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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28343526">Bring Me Down</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maone/pseuds/Maone'>Maone</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Alarm für Cobra 11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Feelings, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, M/M, Mpreg, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Overdosing, Romance, Smut, lots of gay feelings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 19:55:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>36,734</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28343526</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maone/pseuds/Maone</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Andre and Semir have been mated for a year when an increased rate of disappearing Omegas landed on Engelhardt's desk and a difficult decision now stands before her - will she risk the safety of her officer who happens to be an Omega for the sake of solving the case?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>André Fux/Semir Gerkhan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Feel free to leave feedback :D</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>A steam of the shower rose to the ceiling forming a rain of droplets falling from the thin watery layer the mist created on the white tiles. Beneath the warm spray of water, two lovers moved as one. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir’s hands roamed the Alpha’s broad shoulders, feeling the tight muscle beneath his fingers and dragging his nails over the heated skin with each powerful thrust within him that sent sparks of pleasure through his entire being. His feet felt numb from being suspended for so long, Andre’s grip remained strong around his thighs, the feeling of his fingers digging so deep into his skin, Semir knew it would bruise as soreness already spread across the bruised flesh, but he barely paid it any mind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The need to feel his mate within him was far too great. His entire body felt like an ember, burning for so long after hours upon hours of intense lovemaking, but still so hot and filled with so much need he could </span>
  <em>
    <span>fucking</span>
  </em>
  <span> cry. He just wanted to be taken, to be claimed and filled by his Alpha over and over until they both collapsed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A hoarse cry left his throat when Andre’s knot began to swell up within him for the third time that night, pushing at his insides, feeling so tight within him he felt like he might burst under the pressure, but it felt just right and his mate knew it too as his forceful thrusts wouldn’t falter despite the choked cries and weakening grip around his shoulders. Andre knew what he needed, what his body craved at this moment and he would give it to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Feeling the Omega’s faltering strength finally starting to give out when the third knot delivered just enough seed to satisfy his mate’s needs, Andre removed his teeth and lips from his lover’s abused throat and carefully removing his arms from underneath the stretched out, sore legs of the smaller man, lowered them both to the shower floor with his knot still buried deep within the exhausted body, still filling it up to the brim.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir rested his head on his mate’s shoulder and mustered the strength to wrap his arms that felt like held down with weights, around his neck and closed his eyes, drawing in harsh breaths. Andre ran his hands up and down his back and over his abused thighs to relieve some of his soreness from their intense mating.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The shower spray’s temperature shifted and Semir felt comfortably cool droplets on his overheated body, washing off the remnants of the powerful mixture of their scents and his own release along with it. The pulsing sensation within him forced him to shift a little bit, the motion drawing a forced moan out of his throat that Andre immediately reacted to by placing a tender kiss to his brow and nudging his legs apart a little bit more to ease the pressure a little. The rumble of his aroused groan felt vivid underneath Semir’s cheek, still pressed against Andre’s shoulder while he rested.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With his body’s needs satisfied, exhaustion crawled up the back of his mind and Semir could feel sleep beginning to creep up on him all the while his mate continued to roll his hips with each spasm of seed coming in spurts within him, this would drag on for a while, he knew.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Due to Andre being a superior Alpha, Semir discovered early into their sexual relationship that his knots held on much longer than those of a regular Alpha and although his body certainly showed appreciation for such libido during his heats, it didn’t appreciate it as much in the aftermath. At least this time Andre had enough sense in his aroused state to move them to the bathroom and let the shower take care of the cleanup for them because Semir was certain he won’t be able to move a muscle after they’re finished.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For now, he enjoyed the comforting touch of his lover and the tender aftercare that would follow once the knot loosened.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which, as he noted with an involuntary jerk of his hips as his mate spasmed within him again, wouldn’t be so quick.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could hear Andre hum above him and suddenly he was being moved on his back against the not to comfortable tiles, he made a tired sound of protest when Andre pushed his legs apart a little more while he settled between them atop of him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The droplets of water were hitting Semir square in the face, much to his discomfort, so he moved his arm over his face. He heard his Alpha huff amusedly and removing the restricting limb away before moving in and blocking the droplets with his body. Semir opened his eyes to look at his mate and open his mouth to complain, only to have the ability to do so be taken away when Andre’s mouth claimed his as if it was even possible to claim him even further than he has been so far.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When his lover began to move despite the fact his cock was still very much in a full knot, Semir felt a stab of renewed arousal he didn’t even know he had within him and his hips pushed back against his mate’s with neediness.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They kissed slowly with their tongues dancing duet to the thrumming sound of water hitting the tiles underneath them. Their hands roamed each other’s bodies, fingers running lightly over the numerous bruises marking their activities until they found each other and Semir’s smaller tanned digits fitted with Andre’s longer calloused fingers like a puzzle piece.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Alpha continued with his small deliberate thrusts until Semir could feel the knot begin to loosen and move slickly within him drawing out an aroused groan from them both.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His mate kept up his efforts until his knot loosened enough for his eager renewed thrusts spill more elated cries from Semir’s throat he didn’t even know he had in him anymore.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The enthusiastic pace didn’t last however and once Andre’s driven out the remnants of his knot, he finally pulled out and Semir hated that part of their mating every damn time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The loss felt embarrassingly intense with their bodies being connected for so long up to this point, but once again, Andre knew his Omega’s body all too well and before Semir could let out a sorrowful whine at the loss, Andre’s lips found the mark on his throat and bit down into the skin hard enough to draw blood.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The possessive move did it’s job and besides a pained gasp, there was no sign of dissatisfaction from the Omega beneath him. Andre’s tongue moved over the renewed mark in an apology before he raised his head to look at Semir.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They looked at each other for a long moment, breathing hard, Semir reached out and moved Andre’s wet hair out of his face in an affectionate move and the satiated couple smiled at one another.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir found the way Andre looked at him after they made love unusually captivating. After his heats, in particular, the way his mate would look at him with such a naked display of love and affection, it made Semir’s heart swell with happiness.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They weren’t ones to express their love for each other through loud confessions like probably any other couple should and would, but rather through their bodies and each time Andre’s hand moved tenderly around his waist or his fingers snuck around the back of his neck to squeeze it gently, it felt like a declaration of love.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Semir knew his mate just as well as his mate knew him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As if reading his thoughts, Andre moved down until their foreheads pressed against one another and then pressed a fleeting kiss to his lips that Semir returned with equal affection.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They laid there for a long moment, letting the shower wash away the rest of the evidence of their lovemaking.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m a modern man. A man for the millennium. Digital and smoke free. A diversified, multi-cultural, post-modern deconstructionist. Politically, anatomically and ecologically incorrect. I’ve been up-linked and downloaded. I’ve been inputted and outsourced. I know the upside of downsizing. I know the downside of upgrading. I’m a high-tech low life. A cutting edge, state of the art, bi-coastal multi-tasker, and I can give you a gigabyte in a nanosecond…</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom watched the road ahead of him warily while the radio babbled on. The sun shone brightly in the sky and the clock on his dashboard read 13:41. Tom reached over to twist the air conditioning knob up and let in a cool flow of air in the confined heat of his car.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Only an hour to go, he thought to himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stopped three cars today for various reasons, saw a drunken cyclist struggling over a sidewalk, dodged a suicidal hare on the A3, and made a full circle on the roundabout when he wasn’t sure where he was meant to pull off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was overall a very long day that he couldn’t wait to finish it up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Cornhole is another word you don’t hear enough. You don’t hear that nearly enough, you know? It’s a good word. It’s a solid word. It’s a tough word. It’s a man’s kind of word. It’s got a masculine sound. It’s like shotgun and ash can and tow truck. Cornhole. Everything’s been sanitized now and cleaned up</span>
  </em>
  <span>-“</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cars whizzed by him and he knew he was driving nearly at the top limit for this section of the highway, but most drivers went a little over the speed limit around this area and besides, there were speed cameras just up ahead around the first corner that would take care of the problem for him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The terrain slowly began to shift from rural to the increased amount of billboards and Tom could see the tops of skyscrapers in the distance with Cologne being right up ahead. He recounted his route and checked his side mirror before driving off onto one of the off-roads where the last bit of his planned route for today took him and then he could finally head back to the station and finish up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was uneventful days like these when Tom realized just how things were different when his partner was with him. Then it was more of a relaxing stroll through an otherwise work-filled week that they’d both come to look forward to, where they’d spend most of the shift chatting about random topics, read out loud various magazines articles and judge good looking cars moving past them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But this was just a nuisance and Tom felt bored out of his mind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Usually, when Semir couldn’t be there, Andre came along with him and although Tom hasn’t found as much common ground with the superior Alpha as he had with Semir, he’d still rather have a shift with him than alone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Unfortunately, in the case of Semir’s heat, neither of his two colleagues were available and so Tom was left to do his job alone for the past two days while his partner enjoyed the paid leave with his mate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Doing all kinds of activities Tom would rather not think about.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At least Semir gave him a warning before he left not to call him, but call Andre instead as he’d be more coherent to actually pick up the phone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fortunately, Tom didn’t find the need to call them as of yet and hoped it would stay that way until his partner returned to work, which should be soon, depending on how long his heat was this time of the year.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Humans do some really interesting things. Like besides killing ourselves, we also kill each other. Murder. And we’re the only ones who do that, by the way. We’re the only species on earth that deliberately kills members of our own species for personal gain or pleasure, sometimes it’s just fun. We’ve also got only species that deliberately kills one of his own to be able to fuck someone. That’s what Alphas do. They kill for pleasure, for a claim. All their simple brain can think about ‘I just want to fuck this Omega so hard her insides spill through her ears, but she’s got a job, she’s got a partner? Fuck it, let’s kill ‘em’. Interesting folks.</span>
  </em>
  <span> “</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom glared in the direction of the radio and with the shake of his head turned it off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How can they broadcast something like this on a radio?” he grumbled under his breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was coming up to Alkenrath when a black car suddenly cut him off and Tom’s quick thinking was the only thing that saved him from getting into a wreck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He cursed out loud, gripping the steering wheel tightly to steady the spinning wheels that screeched under the abrupt braking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Quickly regaining control, Tom’s attention snapped back towards the car speeding far ahead of him now. He shifted the gear and sent his Mercedes rolling forwards, the engine roaring with power and sent the car ahead in pursuit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom grabbed blindly for the blue light resting in between the driver’s and passenger’s seat and fidgeted with the button for his window to roll it down and get the light on the roof of his car, all the while keeping his eyes on the speeding car ahead of him. The driver seemed frantic and swerved his vehicle uncontrollably around potholes on the unkempt road and Tom had a difficult time to keep up with him. He found his radio receiver and called it in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cobra 11, I’m on the east road going through Alkenrath pursuing a black Ford Mondeo, plates are missing,” he slammed the receiver against the steering wheel when a rather large pothole appeared ahead that he needed to avoid.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As soon as the driver realized who was pursuing him, he became much more reckless and even though they were going through a small town with children running around the place, the Mondeo cut through sidewalks and drove right onto a pedestrian road inside one of the parks to shake him off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The narrow space cause them to decrease the speed without the ability to see what was around corners ahead and Tom got a look on the occupant, or rather occupants; since the driver had not only a passenger by his side, but at least two more people in the back, all wearing masks and hoodies like they just escaped a bank robbery. They kept looking back at him and in the effort to keep his car going at equal speed as theirs and trying to see what was happening in the car, Tom missed a second car creeping up behind him and only when it rammed his Mercedes and sent him into an uncontrollable spinout, did he even take notice he was pursuing two vehicles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He slammed on the brakes and could only watch helplessly as his Mercedes skidded across the cut grass, through bushes, taking out a trash can and a lamp before coming to a halt against a wooden stationary building serving as public toilets.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom got out of the car mostly unhurt and watched the two cars drive away, disappearing out of sight. He rubbed his sore neck and cursed under his breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cobra 11, where’s the vehicle heading to? we’re sending reinforcements,” The Alpha reached inside his crashed car for the radio.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s two of them, the other one drove me off the road in the park, didn’t catch the vehicle model, but they’re both heading North,” he reported, wincing at the increasing pain in his neck, the car hit him hard enough to send him jolting forward and slamming back against the head of his seat, that’d bruise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For the next twenty minutes he listened on to the chatter on the radio while they looked for the cars in question until his transport finally arrived along with a tow truck for his wrecked car. Thankfully there weren’t too many people strolling through the park and other than a couple of curious onlookers, nobody was around.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tom, you didn’t say you crashed into public toilets, you’re lucky those weren’t portable!” the voice of his colleague Eike drew his attention and he stopped his efforts to pry off the jammed piece of wood in his car’s vent.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, well,” he sighed, “Difficult to successfully chase somebody when your partner’s at home with the only other person who would replace him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that the voice of jealousy I hear?” Eike teased as they headed towards her car.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not in the slightest,” Tom argued,” I’m simply saying it would’ve helped to have another set of eyes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Such a pretty set of eyes especially,” the blonde smiled, looking at him knowingly as she got in her seat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure it’s not you who’s jealous?” Tom raised an eyebrow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eike giggled and buckled her seatbelt, Tom got into the passenger’s seat when the radio came on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Headquarters here, can somebody tell Kranich to report back to Engelhardt when he returns?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eike picked up the receiver when the detective in question ran a hand down his face with a whine.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, he heard you, I’m about to drive him back to the station, should he be afraid?” Eike asked, looking at her colleague with amusement.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, well she said to report in immediately, so-” the officer replied uncertain of her attempt at humor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She hanged up the receiver back in its place then and started the car.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I hope she’s not going to tell me I’ll be riding a bicycle for the next three months,” Tom smiled helplessly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ding, ding, ding, step out of your car sir, it’s the police,” Eike laughed and drove off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anna watched the anxious man pace back and forth around her office, distress drawn all across his face, looking like a man who hadn’t had a shut-eye for a good while.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he burst into her office an hour ago he seemed like he was ready to tear the place down in rage and Anna was fully prepared to have him dragged out and fined for such a violent entry to an area he had no permission to be in. Her angry demands for him to leave were enough to force the man to spill whatever ailed him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I need to speak to Semir, where is he?” He told the chief.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She looked him over warily while officers stood at her door ready to restrain the man. He smelled like an Alpha, looked like a Turk, and knew Semir, a combination that only meant trouble in her book.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And who would you be?” She asked, ignoring his questions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man growled and raked his fingers through his hair with a little too much force, very distressed indeed, Anna thought.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I just need to speak to him alright? I don’t have his phone and nobody around here wants to give it to me!” He snapped and snapped his head around when the officers took a step closer towards him, taking a step away from them,” Look, I’m not here to cause trouble, I just...you can tell him Tayfun is looking for him, he’ll know. I really need to speak to him, </span>
  <em>
    <span>please.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anna shot a look towards her officers and moved around her desk ti pull back a chair opposite of hers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mr.Gerkhan isn’t available at the moment, but why don’t you sit down for a minute and elaborate, maybe I’ll be able to help you then.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Alpha didn’t seem trusting towards her, but weighing his options, he didn’t have much choice and sat down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom had to walk through the offices listening to his snickering colleagues, someone clearly talked about his prior incident. When he stopped in front of chief’s office, he was surprised to see the blinds closed, but when he turned with a questioning look to their secretary, Andrea nodded for him to go along.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s inside,” the young brunette said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom heard voices coming from within when he reached for the handle and with three knocks, opened the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man sitting in the chair opposite of Engelhardt looked up at him hopefully and jerked in his seat, only to lose the enthusiasm right after he realized he didn’t recognize this man.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His distressing scent spread across the office like a heavy cologne, Tom wondered how could his chief bear it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Should I wait outside?” He offered, remaining at the door, but Engelhardt shook her head and invited him in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, a matter of fact you should listen to Mr.Tayfun as well, since I’ll be assigning his case to you, Tom.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“To him? Why him?” The man demanded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because Mr.Kranich is Gerkhan’s partner and if I’m to recall him from his leave, it’ll be those two who’ll be handling your case,” Engelhardt explained and motioned with her hand in Tom’s direction,” Now would you repeat to Mr.Kranich what you’ve told me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tayfun hesitated for a long moment, glaring at Tom as if he couldn’t bring himself to trust him with whatever ailed him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You want to recall Semir from his leave? But he’s still…” Tom cleared his throat when Engelhardt looked at him blankly, not really catching his drift.”Indisposed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tactfully put.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now Engelhardt followed when the corner of her lips tugged with a smile, but she quickly straightened her act.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It can’t be helped, the situation is dire, now Mr.Tayfun,” she turned back to their guest,” Would you tell my colleague what you’ve told me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Turk looked from one of them to the other and muttered a foreign curse under his breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“For the past couple of weeks something’s been going on down our district, first some sketchy white guys walked up and down a couple of blocks like they were looking for something, some local kids had seen them checking out houses and scribbling something down whenever they’d stop and you know everybody found it weird, a bunch of people in black suits just don’t fit in around here and they were all Alphas too…” Tayfun trailed off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Semir mentioned you live in packs,” Tom chimed in and the Turk glared at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, what of it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom shrugged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nothing, just making sure, go on.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Turk licked his lips, hesitant to continue, it seemed like a topic he found really difficult to share.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, it made our Omegas uneasy, so some of our guys figured they’d ask what the hell do those Alpha want in our district, nothing wrong with asking.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The way he said it, Tom took the ‘asking’ as more of a ‘confrontation’, they were a very tight-knit community and were known to be very protective of their members.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So the next time they showed up, our guys went up to them and asked ‘what do you want around here?’ Nothing extreme, well,” he scratched his neck thoughtfully,”it got weird, those Alphas just stared at them without saying a word and then just..left. We didn’t see them for days after that, so nobody thought anything of it but then one morning there was just screaming, a woman wailing at the top of her lungs, running down the street saying someone took her daughter, who happened to be an Omega. Then the next day it was another girl, then another...and yesterday it was my mate, Ahmet.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not a very feminine sounding name.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that a…?” Tom trailed off with his question.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s a male Omega, yes,” Engelhardt confirmed for him when Tayfun didn’t.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t know he was in any danger, all of the Omegas before were girls, so I didn’t have anyone watch him while we went out and then suddenly a black car pulled up and they just grabbed him,” Tayfun balled his hand into a fist, gritting his teeth,”I tried to follow them, but lost them on the highway. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Fucking bastards</span>
  </em>
  <span>...”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom nodded in understanding, losing a mate was an extremely traumatic thing for an Alpha, he couldn’t imagine what that felt like.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Any idea who might want to take your mate? Or any of the other Omegas in your community? Maybe another pack with a vendetta?” He suggested.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ve got nothing with outsiders, </span>
  <em>
    <span>they came into our territory,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Tayfun said coldly, but gathered his bearings,” I can still feel my mate, wherever they took him, they didn’t hurt him yet, all I know is they were heading East out of the city, far enough for our bond to weaken, but not far enough for me not to feel him anymore. They’re still in the region.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ll do our best to find your partner, Mr.Tayfun, I promise,” Engelhardt reassured the distressed Alpha gently.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ve gotta tell Semir, they won’t let any cops into our community, but they know him, he was in our pack, his family lives there, it’s the only way, nobody else,” Tayfun demanded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom exchanged a concerned look with his boss as they let the Alpha leave. Once the door closed shut behind him, Tom turned to Engelhardt with a frown.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is it a good idea to bring Semir into this?” He asked reluctantly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s the only option, they live in an isolated community and if we want to get anything out of those people, we’ll need someone they can trust,” she walked around her desk,” Andre will come with you, I want to ensure Semir is safe in the first place,”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s strange, why suddenly kidnap a male Omega when they’ve been grabbing females up to this point?” Tom wondered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Engehlardt frowned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“From what I gathered from Mr.Tayfun, it sounds like human trafficking organization and male Omegas are in high demand, always have been.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom watched her dial a number and wait.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When she began to tap her finger on the desk, he ought to ask.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you calling Semir or Andre?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She looked at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Semir, why?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom looked away, pursing his lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe Andre would be a better option, Semir’s still in….you know” he cleared his throat awkwardly,”…</span>
  <em>
    <span>.indisposed</span>
  </em>
  <span>,”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah right, it’s only been a day,” Engelhardt nodded with a small smile spreading across her lips and canceled the call, dialing Andre instead, as it rang she sighed.”Hopefully, it’s enough.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre came to the sound of cars driving by under their windows, he opened his eyes and blinked blearily, sleep still holding a heavy veil over his eyelids. The first thing that came to his vision was the naked back of his mate on the other side of the bed, blanket only loosely thrown over his hips barely covering the likely colorful behind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After all, they spent the entire night on every piece of furniture capable of holding their mutual weight during the most intense moments of Semir’s heat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre let out a satisfied sigh and pushed himself to a sitting position. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he reached over to the nightstand and took his watch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>10:30</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Almost lunchtime.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He pushed the blanket aside and got out of the bed, the wooden floor cool under his feet since they left the windows open all night. While naked as the day he was born, Andre walked over to the window and closed it, he debated briefly if he should open the blinds, but looking over his shoulder at the unmoving form still breathing slowly on the bed made him drop the idea.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He walked over to the closet and grabbed a clean pair of underwear before moving to his mate’s side of the bed and sitting down at the edge, careful not to wake him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Beyond the muted light seeping through the corners of their window, Andre could see the numerous bruises blooming on the Omega’s body, he ran his finger gently over a particularly large one on Semir’s arm in the shape of his own handprint. Heats were always a rough affair because it meant both of them would be feral through most of the first round and true to word, Andre didn’t become coherent to form a sentence until after they did it for the last time that night in the shower.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir, on the other hand, didn’t speak at all other than making an appreciative noise when Andre carried him to the bed afterward and he fell asleep promptly after that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Despite his mate’s serene state right now, Andre knew the heat wasn’t over yet and it was likely they’d continue, even if with more awareness, once Semir woke up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So with that knowledge, Andre pulled the blanket up over his lover’s exposed shoulder, not before placing a fleeting kiss to the naked skin and got back up with the intention to at least buy them something to eat before he was confined back to giving his mate his full attention once more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir didn’t stir at all while he got dressed and only hummed in his dreams when Andre quietly closed the door behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>True to word, he was hardly gone for twenty minutes and by the time he came to stand before their apartment door, the overwhelming scent of an Omega in heat overtook him and Andre nearly dropped the keys from how much it hit him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Seemed like Semir was awake.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>When Andre returned from the store, he found his mate had moved from the warmth and comfort of their bed to the cold leather sofa of their living room and that’s where the Alpha found him curled up wearing nothing but what Andre recognized as his own sweater that he wore the day before.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir’s eyes were closed when Andre moved past him to place the food in the kitchen, but the frown drawn on his features and the way his legs couldn’t seem to stop shifting made it apparent he was very much awake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre said nothing and watched his mate carefully while shrugging off his jacket. The vulnerability of his otherwise cautious lover just drove his urge to move in and care for him. Semir’s heats as rare as they were, showed him in his rawest form and it drove Andre wild. It became a powerful challenge to his self-control to just not go in and claim and claim until he was dry of his last drop and his mate fully satiated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They weren’t far from achieving that last night.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre regained most of his senses since then, so instead of just charging right in to fuck his mate as eagerly as he was welcomed to, Andre took it slow this time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When his jacket was off, he undid his belt on his way to the sofa. The intense spicy scent and sight of his little Omega laying there, whining quietly, so desperate for his cock all over again, made it very easy for his libido jolt back to action.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catching a whiff of his scent, Semir’s eyes opened and watched him as he lowered himself down on the sofa next to him. Andre smiled when the Omega raised himself up and like a cat, smoothly moved atop of his mate with his hands moving right in Andre’s place to finish what he was doing for him. So Andre moved his hands out of the way, leaning with his elbows against the back of the sofa, and watched the Omega working his cock with skillful fingers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He couldn’t stop staring at his mate’s face. The flushed look, dilated pupils, and an occasional lick of his lips as Semir stroked him with impressive self-control considering how strong his heat hit him again, that did Andre in. He raised his hand to touch that heated cheek, meeting his mate’s eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re gorgeous like this, kitten.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir watched him curiously, tilting his head into the touch before Andre leaned in and kissed him firmly, he grabbed Semir’s wrist, dragging it away from his cock, then took a handful of his ass, hiding underneath the woolen sweater and much to the Alpha’s pleasure, with nothing to stop him from what he was about to do.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He lifted his lover up a little and once he could feel him above, pushed him down until he was settled all the way in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Omega gave a jerk of surprise and purred pleasantly into his mouth. He then moved away from the claiming kiss, looking at Andre with a dazed smile as he began to move his body up and down in a steady rhythm of someone who’s ridden his lover’s cock often enough to know how to get most out of it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre bit the inside of his cheek at the hot feeling surrounding his cock, the slight tightness of his well-rested mate’s body, and the sweater slowly sliding down the tanned shoulder revealing just a bit of a bicep flexing under the movement of their joined bodies.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Despite the oversized sweater giving his mate all that more of an appeal, Andre wanted to see more of what’s underneath and his fingers found their way underneath the fabric, touching the hot skin, moving up over the fine hair going up the Omega’s underbelly. The flat hard stomach was just one of many results of Andre’s encouragement for his mate to exercise with him and the way the Omega kept such a steady pace while riding him, just reassured Andre he wasn’t being unreasonable when pushing him to a healthier lifestyle. Semir had a beautiful body.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could feel a bump every now and then rise in the spot each time Semir lowered himself down and he knew that was his length pressing so impossibly deep inside of him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>An involuntary growl left his throat, shortly followed by the Omega’s hum of praise and his arms moving around the Alpha’s neck as he pressed their foreheads together affectionately.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Moments like these were the most intimate of them all between the two of them and Andre wouldn’t change them for anything.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But the moment came to an abrupt end when Andre’s phone buzzed to life, making the Alpha look towards it wearily. He left it on the living room table before he went out and hasn’t given it any thought since there were other things requiring his attention.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He ignored the buzzing sound for a while, but when it didn’t cease, he held his mate around the waist so he wouldn’t fall and reached for it with his free hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir’s movements slowed down when Andre accepted the call.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fux,” he said, keeping his tone as steady as is possible with a handful of an Omega in heat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Andre, I’m glad you picked up, is Semir with you?” He heard Engelhardt’s voice on the other line.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He turned to his mate purring quietly into his neck, still rolling his hips lazily.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He is, to an extent,” Andre affirmed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good, can I speak to him or is it still too early?” She asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, at least she caught on to Andre’s meaning.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m afraid it’s too early, chief, maybe in a couple of hours, why, did something happen?” He ran his hand idly up and down his mate’s lower back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her tired exhale and the following pause didn’t sound too reassuring.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, a rather urgent case involving Semir’s former pack,” he listened to her explanation. What the hell did they want this time? </span>
  <em>
    <span>They’ve done nothing, but drag Semir down with them</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Andre thought to himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll need you back here by tomorrow at least so we can start the investigation.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He frowned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir stopped entirely then and moved back to look at his mate’s face worriedly when he felt the unhappy shift of the Alpha’s emotions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry, what do you mean tomorrow? Semir’s still in heat,” Andre argued and his increasing frustration caused the confused Omega to stare at him as if he did something wrong.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre pulled him close and pressed a fleeting kiss to his lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay, little bird,” he reassured him quietly while Engelhardt explained the situation on the other line.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I understand that Andre, but we can’t afford to wait any longer than that, one of the pack’s Alphas came to me today that somebody’s been kidnapping their Omegas. If we do nothing, their Alphas could cause havoc in surrounding communities and it’ll get completely out of hand. I’ve gotten permission from the city police to take over the case since the suspects have been spotted in our area. Tom’s already been informed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Many things ran through Andre’s mind then, one was above all others though.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Semir’s in heat,” he repeated,” and you want him to go into an area full of Alphas who lost their mates?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s why you’re coming with them, we only need someone to question the community members, then we can monitor the area from the outside.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>By this point, Semir began to shift restlessly with the lack of movement from his partner and Andre wanted nothing more than hang up on their boss and tend to his needy mate, but it was apparent Engelhardt wouldn’t be too happy if he did that, even if it was his right as Semir’s Alpha.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before his mate could get any more frustrated, Andre growled into the call.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, I’ll talk to Semir, we’ll be there tomorrow.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good and Andre?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was about to toss the phone back on the table when he heard her questioning voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah?” He asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could hear her chuckle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’d appreciate it if he could walk,”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In that instant, Andre realized just how close Semir was to the phone the entire time, so his soft whining and groans must have been loud enough to-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right,” Andre quickly placed his hand over Semir’s mouth after he rolled them around causing his cock to shift within the Omega’s body and drawing a pleasured moan from his throat,” he will.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What a way to ruin one’s day.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom didn’t know what to expect. When Engelhardt hung up the phone with a smile and assured him that both Andre and Semir would be returning the following day, he wasn’t sharing her enthusiasm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If Semir’s upcoming heat a few days ago made him unbearable to be around, better couldn’t have been said about Andre who went from minding his own business to acting as a territorial maniac whenever someone did as much as to pat Semir on the back in a friendly manner.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The shift in the superior Alpha’s behavior was immediate, from a stare that could kill, to a low growl escaping his throat whenever the offending limb didn’t immediately move away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir did what he could to hold back the inevitable heat, but ultimately, the smell got to Tom as well and the Omega had to be sent home before the situation turned dangerous amongst the Alphas who otherwise considered each other a friend.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Coming back after only a day of such intense heat was worrisome, Tom knew it couldn’t have been enough time for it to pass properly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So, he was quite surprised when he saw his partner’s BMW pull up at the station and Semir getting out of the passenger seat looking like it was just another day at work and not like a sex hungry freak with the unstoppable need to be bred.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre’s deathly stare in the office’s direction immediately after he got out of the driver’s seat didn’t seem so normal on the other hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom went back to his seat and pretended to be far too interested in his week old paperwork when he heard the voices outside his office of his colleagues greeting his colleagues.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re back already? I thought Tom said you’d be gone for three days?” Tom heard Bonrath’s surprised voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think it’s a known fact that criminals have no respect for our vacation schedule,” Semir’s voice replied lightly and Tom looked up from his computer at the sound of the door opening as his partner walked in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey,”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Right away he could smell his spicy scent tinged with something stronger underneath, not as strong as it was before Semir left two days ago, but still noticeable enough to draw Tom’s attention.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey back, feeling better I hope?” Tom asked with a teasing smile, Semir shrugged with a wordless grin, reserved enough to not comment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Whatever effects Tom might have felt were shot down when he realized Andre followed his partner inside and closed the door behind them right away. The superior Alpha had no intention of leaving him alone with the Omega, that much was for certain. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two Alphas’ gaze met then in uncomfortable silence while Semir took off his jacket and threw it over his chair, not paying attention to the rising tension in the room or simply not noticing it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you think you can brief me on the situation a little bit more? Andre didn’t tell me much,” he asked and sat down in his seat while the mate in question moved to lean against a desk by a nearby wall, crossing his arms across his chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom chose to ignore him for now, the smell of heat was much more muted with the Alpha in the room now, so his mind was much clearer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not much more than you’ve been told. The guy who came to report the missing Omegas, Tayfun was his name, said they’ve seen a group of Alphas hanging around their streets before the disappearances started happening,” he offered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The mention of Tayfun’s name made Semir’s head to snap up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tayfun?” he repeated, “Tayfun came here and asked for help? He always hated the police, hated my guts for years when I joined the academy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good that you did,” Andre chimed in. “Those guys are nothing more than a bunch of street thugs, I’m surprised this is the first time their Omegas came to harm.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just because things work differently there, doesn’t mean they’re street thugs,” Semir glared at his mate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s exactly what they are no matter how you sugar coat it,”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Anyway,” Tom cleared his throat, pushing the growing argument to a halt and the pair turned their attention back to him, “We need to question the families of those kidnapped victims, maybe they’ve all got something in common that would draw attention.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Were they all females?” Semir asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Initially,” Tom affirmed,” That Tayfun guy’s mate was apparently a male though.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tayfun’s mate got kidnapped too?” Semir’s brow furrowed, “That’s a really ballsy move, Tayfun is part of the group that rules those streets, taking his mate is pretty risky if an opposing pack did it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s even more ballsy is going into their territory in broad daylight and window shop which Omegas they’ll take for themselves because that’s what seems to have happened.” Tom pointed out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They sound confident,” Andre said and leaned back against the wall,” and experienced if they grabbed more than one without being caught.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You think they’ve done this before?” Semir asked, resting his head on his hand and staring at his desk in thought,” We’d need to check if something like this has happened around the city, maybe there’s a pattern to it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, first we need to interrogate the Turkish community, and I’ve got a feeling they won’t be happy to see us,” Tom sighed.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Semir parked his car by one of the kebab stands and the three investigators got out. Right away they received conspicuous stares from passersby.</p><p>“They got paranoid quickly,” Tom said when a woman rather crossed the street than walk past them while they headed towards Tayfun’s garage. </p><p>“Are you surprised? Bunch of white guys in suits kidnapped their Omegas,” Semir said, nodding at his companion’s attire. Tom looked down on his suit which he wore so many times before.</p><p>“Do I look like I came here to kidnap someone?”</p><p>Semir looked over his shoulder at his partner and a smile formed on his lips before he turned back.</p><p>“No, you’re right, you look like a disheveled businessman on his last leg.”</p><p>Tom rolled his eyes and exchanged a look with Andre who was walking along with him behind Semir. The Alpha smirked and looked around. They noticed most of the people who walked the streets were groups of youngsters or the elderly.</p><p>Plenty of people were moving about, but it still felt like a lot was missing.</p><p>“Is it just me or is Semir the only Omega I can sense around here?” Tom looked across the street at a group of five young males staring them down like they’re ready for a brawl any minute.</p><p>“It’s not just you,” Andre said, drawing Tom’s attention,” They’re getting intimidated with us being here, we’ll have to make this visit brief.”</p><p>“They won’t do anything as long as we stick together and make it clear we’re here to help,” Semir pointed out.</p><p>“Do they even still recognize you?” Tom asked his partner.</p><p>Semir shrugged.</p><p>“I hope so, guess we’ll find out soon enough,”</p><p>“That’s not reassuring.”</p><p>Shortly after they came to a stop in front of a repair shop. Nobody seemed to be around other than one lone old man who didn’t pay them any attention, so Semir walked up to him and ushered a couple of words in Turkish.</p><p>The man took his time to finish whatever he was doing by the tool rack and then slowly replied with a question of his own.</p><p>Their little back and forth carried on for a while, the irritation in Semir’s voice drew Tom’s attention.</p><p>“I wonder what are they arguing about,” he said.</p><p>“Semir asked him where’s Tayfun, the guy told him he doesn’t know, Semir insists he’s got to and that Tayfun wanted to talk to him in the first place,”</p><p>Tom turned to Andre with both eyebrows high up.</p><p>“I didn’t know you understood Turkish.”</p><p>“A bit.”</p><p>At last, a man appeared from within the building and Tom recognized him to be the Alpha from earlier at the station. He shouted angrily at first, probably trying to see what was the commotion, but once he realized who he was looking at, he rushed over to Semir. That apparently didn’t sit well for Andre, who was quicker and stepped in between the two of them before Tayfun could do anything. The Turkish Alpha halted and stared at Andre with a mixture of confusion and distrust, but Semir was quick to move around his mate, much to Andre’s annoyance, and took Tayfun’s hand and the two hugged and kissed on the cheek in greetings.</p><p>When Andre growled, Semir threw him a glaring look and turned back to Tayfun.</p><p>“Sorry about that Tayfun, he’s my mate.” He apologized.</p><p>Tayfun’s eyes squinted in Andre’s direction, his menacing look still in its place and ready to be confrontational if need be.</p><p>“Really? Well then, your fellow cops didn’t mention you were in heat, I can still smell it on you, I’m surprised you even walked out of the house.”</p><p>Semir shook his head.</p><p>“It’s only the remainder of it, it’s not an issue, can you shed some light on what’s been happening here? Have you seen those men before?” He inquired.</p><p>Now it was Tayfun’s turn to shake his head.</p><p>“No, nobody around here has, they stood out like a crooked nail,” he said,” Usually people come here to buy something, but they just wandered up and down the streets checking out what everybody’s doing like a bunch of creepers. When we tried to confront them, they got back in their cars and left without a word. They did that for a couple of weeks before this shit and now Ahmet,” he exhaled loudly, Semir squeezed his shoulder compassionately.</p><p>“How many Omegas were taken?” Andre inquired then.</p><p>“Four along with my mate, no matter what we’ve done, they’ve been grabbing one every day since the beginning of this week, you probably noticed the lack of them on the street, their packs hid them out of fear, nobody’s been grabbed today yet, we hope to keep it that way,”</p><p>“Why haven’t you reported it immediately after the first one was taken? The others could have been prevented,” Andre accused and Tayfun stared at him hatefully.</p><p>“We went looking for the first girl, you think we’d wait for the police when it’s one of our children who was taken?” He growled.</p><p>“Hold on,” Tom interrupted,” the Omega was a child?” He asked worriedly.</p><p>Tayfun nodded silently.</p><p>Semir looked at his mate with increasing concern.</p><p>Andre took a step forward to Tayfun.</p><p>“We need to speak to the families of those girls.”</p><p>----</p><p>After leaving the last house, the three of them stood on the street by the entrance.</p><p>“Well, that was fruitless.” Tom said.”Looks like the targets are random, just as long as they’re an Omega.”</p><p>Semir’s attention turned to the group of teens watching them and while Tom bantered on, he headed to the group.</p><p>Andre followed his mate wordlessly and Tom was left alone talking to himself.</p><p>“You could at least pretend that we’re a team here.” The Alpha muttered and followed the two.</p><p>One of the boys moved out of the group to approach Semir.</p><p>Tom couldn’t tell whether it was an Alpha or not, but Semir reached out to the youngster and squeezed his shoulder lightly.</p><p>“It’s been a while, Yusuf, how are you?” He asked.</p><p>“Hi Semir, I’m doing good,” Yusuf looked over Semir’s shoulder at the two.”What brings you here?”</p><p>Semir followed his example and glanced over his shoulder to see Andre standing close behind with his arms crossed, staring the youngster down.</p><p>He sighed and turned back.</p><p>“Nothing good, I’m afraid,” he said,” You didn’t see anything did you?”</p><p>“You’ve come because of the taken girls?” Yusuf asked.</p><p>Semir nodded.</p><p>“Tayfun mentioned a group of outsider Alphas have been hanging around the area, have you seen them?”</p><p>“Most of us did, hard not to,” Yusuf retorted,” They’ve been snooping around for days and then just disappeared again.”</p><p>“Have you seen anything out of the ordinary in the days those girls disappeared?” Semir inquired.</p><p>“Don’t you think if we did we would have caught them by now?” One of the other boys said and Semir looked at him.</p><p>“They kidnapped Tayfun’s mate in broad daylight, you don’t know what they could be capable of, leave criminal confrontations to the police.” </p><p>Andre met Yusuf’s gaze and the youth looked away with a frown.</p><p>“As if cops ever helped us before,” he muttered.</p><p>“You got any knowledge of cars? If you’ve seen those men, you had to see the cars they used to get here.” Tom joined in, moving past Andre to approach the youths.</p><p>Yusuf shrugged.</p><p>“A bit.”</p><p>Semir raised an eyebrow.</p><p>“You know plenty, Yusuf. We know street racing is still a pretty popular past time activity around here.”</p><p>The youth clicked his tongue in annoyance.</p><p>“It might have been a Mondeo and a Supra, both black, but I doubt it’ll be of much help, I didn’t see the number plates,” Yusuf said.</p><p>Semir turned to his colleagues with an intrigued look.</p><p>“Where have you been when the last Omega got kidnapped?” Andre asked, staring at Yusuf.</p><p>“At home, why?” </p><p>Andre nodded in acknowledgment but commented no further.</p><p>“Well,” Semir squeezed Yusuf’s shoulder lightly,” If you see anything out of the ordinary, or remember anything, give me a call, okay?” He said and Yusuf nodded.</p><p>“Will do, Semir.”</p><p>They continued on interrogating various passersby until the information wouldn’t proceed any further than what they’ve gathered so far.</p><p>When they returned to the car, Semir was rubbing at his temples with a pained expression and Tom noticed it.</p><p>“Are you alright?” He asked when Andre stepped up to the Omega and massaged the back of his neck gently. Semir nodded.</p><p>“Fine.” He assured.</p><p>But Tom felt the thickening aroma of his spicy scent fill the air and bit his lip. He threw Andre a look and the Alpha took the keys from Semir’s hand without much resistance and tossed them in Tom’s direction.</p><p>With the sun going down fast, Tom got behind the driver’s seat while Andre nudged Semir to get in the backseat with him.</p><p>“When a group of Alphas gets involved in the disappearance of Omegas it usually means they’re grabbing them for themselves,” Semir said while Tom started the car,” Two of the girls were underage, one was a married woman with children and the last one was a guy, they had nothing in common other than all of them being Omegas.”</p><p>“What confuses me, even more, is that the kidnappers returned to the same location four times and weren’t spotted once, spare for grabbing Ahmet in broad daylight in front of witnesses, and even then nobody could confidently tell us those were the same men they’ve seen wandering around.”</p><p>“It has to be a big scale operation, that’s the only way they were able to get away each time,” Andre said, reaching over to wrap his arm around Semir’s shoulders, the Omega nuzzled into his touch immediately.”I wouldn’t be surprised if one amongst the community’s involvement. Wandering the streets a couple of times when being watched wouldn’t be enough to come up with a plan to grab someone and get away with it, only somebody who’s within that community daily would see people’s patterns well enough to pull this off.”</p><p>“That’s ridiculous, what would they gain from it? Tayfun’s pack always had been close-knit, if you couldn’t be trusted, you’d be forced out of the community altogether.” Semir argued.</p><p>“They could be trusted and still be involved.” </p><p>----</p><p>By the time Tom neared the station Semir’s scent completely filled the car and the Alpha saw the police sign of their building as salvation. Over the fifteen minutes it took to drive there, Semir started whining, trying to be quiet about it at first, but the need for his mate became too strong and by the end of the ride Tom could see him clutching onto Andre like a lifeline.</p><p>When he parked the car, Tom got out as well as did the other two.</p><p>Semir pressed his back against the car and inhaled deeply while Andre moved to stand in front of him and placed his hand on the roof of the car by Semir’s head.</p><p>Tom saw his partner hiding his face in his mate’s chest, making quiet noise of discomfort while Andre watched him.</p><p>“I really should have dropped off you at your place, he doesn’t look too good.” Tom frowned.</p><p>Andre looked at him and nodded.</p><p>“Yea, that’s apparent,” he said irritatedly. “Just go inside, I’ll give him a minute.”</p><p>Tom hesitated, but knew he couldn’t do anything for his partner, so reluctantly he headed for the door, still over his shoulder he could hear something that sounded awfully like a sob.</p><p>“You just couldn’t listen, just had to be stubborn, can you handle the ten-minute drive home?” he could hear Andre’s frustrated voice.</p><p>“I can’t,” Semir’s voice was filled with pain as he spoke.</p><p>Tom could hear the superior Alpha sigh before he went through the door of the station and out of earshot.</p><p>He hasn’t seen either of them for half an hour, but when he finished writing down what they'd gathered that day as well as signing a commission for his car’s repair, he looked out of the window and found that Semir’s BMW was still parked in its spot.</p><p>Odd, he thought to himself and got up to check where his partner and his mate might have gone.</p><p>Stepping into the hallway, Tom saw right away the blinds were open in Andre’s office and the lights were off, so they weren’t there and heading out to the parking lot, he saw no sign of them there either.</p><p>He returned to the office confused more than before and met Eike walking by.</p><p>“What’s wrong Tom? You’re looking kind of lost.” She said.</p><p>“I’m not, but my colleagues are, have you seen Semir and Andre by any chance?” He asked.</p><p>“Yeah,” she nodded towards the back of the building,” Andre told me that Semir wasn’t feeling well so he asked me to get him the key to the old lounge so Semir can lie down for a bit.” She explained.</p><p>Tom blinked and looked in the direction she pointed to.</p><p>“How long have they been there?”</p><p>She shrugged.</p><p>“Like twenty minutes or so, why?”</p><p>He sighed.</p><p>“No reason, just wondered where they went, we’re working on the kidnapping case, it was a long day, so-”</p><p>She looked left and right and leaned closer to Tom, motioning to him to do the same.</p><p>“I wouldn’t go checking on them if you’re thinking about it, Semir smelled of heat.” She warned him.</p><p>Tom looked at her awkwardly.</p><p>“So you know Semir’s not resting in there, don’t you?” he said quietly, well aware that’s exactly the case.</p><p>“He could be by now, it’s been a while,” she moved back with a smile. “Good thing the old lounge has a bathroom with a shower.”</p><p>The horrified look Tom gave her, made her chuckle.</p><p>“It’s a heat, what did you expect? They should have stayed home for at least two more days for it to pass properly, this is why most women get a paid leave when it’s their time of the month, imagine how bad is it for someone like Semir with irregular heats.”</p><p>“Oh well,” Tom sighed,” Engelhardt did make them come back earlier than they should have, guess she should expect consequences.”</p><p>He waited for a little while before he dared to go down the corridor leading to the old lounge and when he did, he cautiously sniffed the air for any sign of the Omega’s scent.</p><p>For a long while there was nothing, only when Tom came to a standstill in front of the door with light coming from beneath, did he catch the whiff of spicy aroma mixed with musk; Andre’s scent.</p><p>Good thing that the lounge was far enough from the offices for <em> any unwanted noises </em> to be lost within the rush of the officer’s busy workday.</p><p>After he was certain there weren’t any such unwanted noises coming from the inside, he knocked courteously twice and pushed the handle down.</p><p>If the scent felt heavy in front of the door, it punched Tom in the face now and he reeled back a bit, unprepared at the intensity.</p><p>His hand shot to his face as he covered his nose and mouth.</p><p>“Don’t be so dramatic, I opened the window.” He was greeted with Andre’s monotone voice while the Alpha sat on the sofa, fortunately fully clothed, with Semir curled up by his side and snoozing quietly, also fully clothed, with his face pressed to Andre’s neck while the Alpha ran his hand up and down his arm in comfort.</p><p>It didn’t look like they’ve done anything else other than genuinely rest, but the heavy smell of sex lingering in the air and Andre’s wet hair and crumpled clothes proved otherwise.</p><p>Tom walked inside and closed the door behind him, looking at the duo pitifully.</p><p>“You’re lucky Eike had the key to this room, chief usually keeps those locked in her office.” He said and walked over to the window, opening the large one as well to let more air inside. </p><p>When he walked back, he noted Semir hadn’t stirred at his presence.</p><p>“I found out something interesting while you two were gone,” he sat down on a chair opposite of the sofa Andre was on.</p><p>“Did you?” The superior Alpha inquired, stopping briefly with the strokes, Semir made an unhappy noise and rubbed against his neck like a cat before Andre too the cue and resumed the motion until his mate settled again.</p><p>“Yeah, I’ve gotten into a crash yesterday when chasing a guy, nearly got him, but his friend surprised me and rammed me off the road, but I got the dash camera, to fill out the report, right?” Tom explained, Andre nodded, listening on.</p><p>“Well, guess what the perp’s car model was,” Tom smirked.</p><p>“Black Mondeo?” Andre suggested.</p><p>Tom slowly crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat.</p><p>“And his friend had a Supra.”</p><p>The superior Alpha stared at him with less enthusiasm than Tom hoped for.</p><p>“What? This is an amazing coincidence!” Tom argued. “It must have been the same people who took Ahmet the day before and likely the rest of Omegas.”</p><p>Semir stirred by Andre’s side, trying to shuffle closer when the cold air from the windows crept into the room, so Andre reached for his jacket thrown over the armrest of the sofa and placed it around the smaller man’s shoulders, the motion drawing a purr out of the Omega.</p><p>“Yeah, but you lost them,” Andre pointed out,” what about the number plates?”</p><p>Tom rubbed the nape of his neck with growing disappointment.</p><p>“Removed and I didn’t catch it on the Supra...but at least it gives us some idea where they might be headed, I’ve chased them through Alkenrath, that’s not too far from where the kidnappings took place.”</p><p>Andre nodded.</p><p>“It’s a start, we’ll check the map when my Sleeping Beauty over here finally wakes up.” He pressed a kiss to the Omega purring pleasantly into his neck.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Tayfun had been working on his car when he saw the three officers driving past in a silver BMW. It was a tough choice to go to a police station when there was nothing more he wanted to do than search for those bastards who took his mate himself. It was his fucking territory Ahmet was taken from, his damn streets where he should have been </span>
  <em>
    <span>safe</span>
  </em>
  <span> and now Tayfun had to rely on complete strangers, save for Semir, to find Ahmet for </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span>? What kind of an Alpha was he? He wrinkled his nose, angry at himself, angry at everybody else.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hurled the wrench in his hand across the garage where it smashed into some glass, shattering it all over the ground.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a minute Tayfun heard steps behind him, but couldn’t be bothered to turn around, his sight still firmly fixed on the exposed engine of a car he’s been working on without much progress for the past hour.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Should have been out there looking, not fucking sitting around and waiting for the bad news,” Tayfun hissed more to himself than the new presence in the room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where would you even start?” He heard a voice not far behind him, “He could be beyond the borders by now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tayfun snapped his head around with an icy stare.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wasn’t long ago when you treated him like your son, Omar, and this is how you speak of Ahmet now?!” He barked, overcome with indescribable anger.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The elderly man stared at him with surprise in his eyes. His gaze turned to the ground, his hands in a grasp behind his back in passive response to the Alpha’s outburst.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Age meant nothing to them, being an Alpha meant you were to be respected and Omar was nothing more than a Beta that disregarded that law more than Tayfun would like. Still, it was a father figure to both him and his mate and it wasn’t easy to show authority towards him. But things were different now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tayfun abandoned his efforts of repairing a car before he’d end up causing more damage. He snatched a nearby stained towel to wipe the oil and dirt from his hands and face and stalked past Omar intending to grab something to eat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could feel the old man’s eyes on his back and knew they were full of pity and pity meant grief and grief meant Ahmet not coming back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tayfun clenched his jaw.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He wouldn’t give up that easily. True, police were doing the work for him, but that didn’t mean he won’t chase those fuckers down if they ever show their faces in their town again and he’ll be damned if they’ll shake him down this time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a knock on the door drawing Tom’s attention from a map spread across his table. When he saw Andrea coming in with a handful of papers, he looked at her expectantly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well I’ve got some good and bad news,” she pouted her lips while shuffling through the documents before laying them out one by one on his partner’s empty side of the table.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I hope the good outweighs the bad,” he muttered thoughtfully, examining the papers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There were numerous photographs of the models of cars they were looking for, but Tom noticed most if not all had completely different colors than the ones the suspects used.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve ran the database for every single black Ford Mondeo and Toyota Supra registered in the province from 1993 until now, thirteen models of one,” she spread out one row,” and five of the other.” Tom picked up one of the documents with a picture of red Supra on it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“None of these are black,” he noted disappointedly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not the Supra, but two of the Mondeo models are, I already checked those out, one belongs to a young family and the other to some businesswoman from Ossendorf,” Andrea crossed her arms, “ are you sure the two cars you pursued are the same who’d be responsible for the kidnappings?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Have to be, witnesses recognized them, so did the dash camera of my car,” Tom piled up the papers together again and carried them to his desk.” I’d be willing to bet they had one of the Omegas in the car, they were in a rush to get out of there.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Why else would they book it like that when they've seen him? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom paused suddenly when a realization hit him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrea noted his reaction with a curious look. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Alpha investigator stared at the papers in his hands and at the map laid out on his table. “That makes no sense,” he said out loud, but the statement being more to himself than the secretary. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What makes no sense? “ She tried to see whatever he was seeing in the map but failed to find anything standing out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom sat down in his chair with a very lost expression drawn across his features. Like he couldn't comprehend his own thoughts. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He looked at Andrea. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My lights weren't on,” he said plainly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The secretary’s brow tightened in a narrowed look. She didn't understand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How would they know? “ Tom wondered, “ And why speed if they knew I was a cop? I didn’t know anything then.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe they weren’t trying to get away from you, but someone else?” Andrea offered and leaned against the side of his table.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who?” Tom asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know, one of the Alphas who had their partner’s taken?” She shrugged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tayfun’s the only one I know about who tried to pursue his mate’s kidnapper and that was two days ago…” Tom said dismissively.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A heavy silence hung in the air as Tom tried to tie the inconsistencies, his thoughts consuming his attention fully so he didn’t hear Andrea telling him she’d keep looking for a black Supra, or her leaving. Only when the door reopened again sometime later and Tom was snapped out of the wheels turning in his head by the voice of his colleague.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How’s that mapping going?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom wrinkled his nose and straightened up in his chair, the map still untouched beneath his fingers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve got nothing,” he said. Andre walked over to his chair and looked over his shoulder at the map and pile of photographs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really? You sounded confident you got something a while ago, what about the cars?” He reached down for the photographs and shuffled through them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nothing useful there either,” Tom grumbled,” I thought I could maybe pick out abandoned buildings along the route where I came across the Mondeo because I figured they were headed down Alkenrath for a reason, but-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alkenrath is mostly suburban, hiding four Omegas in a populated area like that would be too difficult,” Andre told him and threw the photographs back on the table,” these are useless, the kidnappers would be stupid to use cars registered in the city. They used them in broad daylight to kidnap their victims, so they must have known police would be looking for those models, probably switched or repainted them by now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hm,” Tom eyed the map once again.” What would you do in their shoes? If, say, you just grabbed an Omega and have him in your car and someone is pursuing you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre leaned against a cabinet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’d probably want to get rid of whoever is following me, can’t do anything with the Omega as long as there’s somebody on my tail, what brought this on?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom’s attention perked up then.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’d lead them off the grid of where you’re headed, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Probably, you chased them into Alkenrath, is that what you’re getting at?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think </span>
  <b>I </b>
  <span>chased them there,” Tom said,” Something else has, they were speeding before they could have known I was a cop, so there’s that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They could have been heading in any direction, then.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m afraid unless they do it again, we won’t get any closer to finding the missing Omegas.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>-----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The next days passed in a blur, life went as usual at the highway police, everybody focused on doing their jobs and with the lack of progress on the missing people’s case, Andre, Semir, and Tom were forced to change their focus to other pressing matters at hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With it being March, the weather was still cold enough to cause issues on the highway and accidents continued to occur very frequently.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The missing Omegas stayed in Semir’s thoughts however and despite having nothing to offer, he stayed in contact with Tayfun, who; as anticipated, grew more and more irritated with each passing day.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the hell do you mean you’ve got no leads? You know the cars they used, you know which direction they were headed, what else do you expect to get from us? You’re the cop here, for fuck sake! I can still sense him, but how long is that going to last before I lose him? Are you even trying to find him anymore?!” Semir moved the phone further away from his ear with a wince and heard an irritated sigh behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Calm down, Tayfun,” Semir replied as evenly as his voice would allow with his own frustration growing,” All we have are the models of their cars and the general direction they might be heading to, what the hell do you think anybody can do with that? We’ll need more to make any progress and since there have been no kidnappings since that’s hardly a possibility.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, so you want them to grab another Omega, is that it?! How about you go stand on the street corner and see what happens!?!” Tayfun’s voice was so loud Andre could hear it from where he was standing behind his mate and the temptation to rip it out of his grip and throw it out of the window was really high.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instead, he walked around his partner until Semir could raise his eyes towards him and meet him with a desperate look and grabbed the phone from his grip without much resistance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Listen here, Tayfun, if you’ve got nothing useful to say to help to find your partner and the rest of the missing Omegas, then don’t call us and rather keep an eye on the ones you’ve got left, ” Andre held the phone to his ear and turned around when Semir protested, trying to take the phone back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Never should have relied on you, pigs, I’m going to find Ahmet without your fucking help,” Tayfun growled through the other line and hung up. Andre lowered the phone, giving it a dismissive look, and handed it back to Semir, who grabbed it hastily and frowned when he saw the call was dropped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nice job, Andre, now he’s probably going to do something stupid since you riled him up,” Semir snapped at his mate and tossed the phone on a counter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stalked over to the kitchen with Andre watching his back with a narrowed look.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Like what?” He challenged, following him,” He’ll try to hunt them down? Or confront the kidnappers if they show up again? They weren’t stupid  to get confrontational before, they won’t be this time either, he’s not going to achieve anything.” He dismissed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t know him as I do,” Semir argued while preparing his coffee,” If anything, he’s going to take your advice to the heart, and next thing you know, we’ll be called in there again because he assaulted somebody.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If he tries anything of the sort, he’ll know it’s not gonna help him find his mate, you’re worrying too much, Semir.” Andre retorted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could feel his partner tense up then, the Omega leaned against the table heavily and sighed, Andre watched him cautiously since Semir hasn’t been feeling well for the past couple of days and the splitting migraines seemed to come back at random times, but Semir straightened up almost right away and reached over for the kettle, so Andre remained in his spot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know what I don’t get? Tayfun can still feel his bond to Ahmet,” Semir turned around to face his lover with a cup of steaming hot coffee in his hand,” I’m not an expert on such things, but don’t you think that’s a bit odd if they took him out of the city?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre crossed his arms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You think they’re still here?” He suggested.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir’s gaze shifted to a spot on the ground when a thoughtful expression crossed his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, how far do you think you’d have to be away from me until we can’t feel each other anymore?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Alpha stared back at him wordlessly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Good question.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>-----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The blue Mercedes sped down the highway the next morning.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So what is it we’re doing exactly?” Tom questioned his partner, keeping his eyes on the road ahead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Like I told you, measuring how far can we go before the bond is affected,” Semir explained, twirling a pen between his fingers and looking at a notebook on his lap.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five kilometers so far and the connection with Andre didn’t waver in the slightest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t want to question your methods with getting that case solved, even especially since we’re not even assigned to it anymore, but how is this going to help with catching those kidnappers?” Tom queried.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tayfun told me he can still sense Ahmet, If we know how far away one has to be from his mate, maybe then we’ll be able to narrow down the area where those Omegas could be held, it’s a start if nothing else,” Semi explained.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He made a mark in his notebook as they passed another kilometer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom hmmed next to him and scratched his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The range is already pretty wide, but worth a try. Isn’t it possible for Tayfun to maybe, I don’t know, trace his mate if he can feel him?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s more of an emotional connection than physical, it’s hard to explain,” Semir said and reached down to his door’s side compartment. The rustling sound of packaging made Tom glance at his partner.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The cream pink-colored treat caused his brows to rise in surprise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the hell are you eating?” He asked when Semir took out one of the strawberry snacks from the package without looking up from his notes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The question made him pause in mid-bite and he turned to Tom with a confused look.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Rice cakes, why?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But you hate strawberry,” Tom squinted at his partner.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir shrugged and bit into the snack with a loud crunch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s an acquired taste,”  he replied with his mouth full and gingerly scribbled another mark in his notebook while holding the rice cake in the same hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom shook his head but made no further comment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I talked to Eike last night,” he said instead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ooh?” Semir smiled at his partner,” About what?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom rolled his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you think? Work of course, she’s working with David on the stolen trailer case, so I figured I’d give her some useful input, being experienced in this field of work for longer…” His rambling only made Semir smile wider and soon the Turk was chuckling helplessly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Experienced for longer</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” He mimicked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom made to glare at him, but quickly couldn’t help but grin too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shut up, I made an effort to be subtle, anyways, I told her we could talk about the case over lunch,” He continued on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And did your killer charm work its magic?” Semir asked amusedly while grabbing another rice cake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom shrugged nonchalantly and looked at his partner proudly. Semir caught the look and paused.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, it actually did?” He asked in disbelief.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now it was Tom's turn to laugh. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Today at eleven, you gotta be glad you didn't make a bet with me over this.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir pushed himself up in his seat straighter with an interested look on his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well color me surprised, I always figured she had a thing with David, apparently not.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom nodded proudly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nope, so I'd appreciate it if we got back before then, not all of us need to use their scent to find someone as you can see.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir smiled to his notebook. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He knew it was a jab at his relationship, but when he reflected on it now and remembered the mesmerized look on Andre's face when he first caught a whiff of his scent after a month of convincing Semir to go off suppressants, it was difficult to see anything bad about it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>While their bond started off being mostly physical rather than emotional, Semir really loved Andre.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could feel the warmth in his chest at the thought of it, slowly spread within the back of his mind in response. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Andre loved him too. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Within moments that feeling was abruptly cut off, the separation so sudden and unwelcoming that it made Semir drop the pen and the uneaten rice cake as he grabbed at his head with a painful wince.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Semir? Are you okay?” Tom’s worried voice forced him to blink through the painful stabs in the back of his mind. His connection with Andre seemingly reached its limit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He quickly raised his head to look at the passing sign, but missed it, so he turned to Tom.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How far are we?” he demanded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh,” Tom checked his window until the next sign appeared,” I think we just passed the eight-kilometer, why? Can’t feel Andre anymore?” He asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir shook his head and rubbed his temples to ease some of that tension as it slowly faded away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, hurts like hell,” he admitted and picked up his fallen pen to write down the information.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom glanced at him with worry and guided the car off the road to a nearby resting area which he drove through and turned the car around to head back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So we’re looking at a range of eight kilometers,” he said after a moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir nodded, the splitting headache making that quite difficult, he figured it’d be uncomfortable as it usually was, but had no idea it’d hurt this bad, it never did.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Eight or less, I don’t know whether Andre being a superior Alpha plays a role in this, we’ll have to ask someone about that,” he sighed and closed his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could feel Tom’s concerned stare.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That looked really painful,” he noted worriedly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It doesn’t usually hurt like this when we’re that far apart, it was probably just the moment of surprise…” Semir muttered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s the longest you’ve been separated from Andre at that far?” Tom asked then.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Two days I think? Not even that, he went on a concert with his band buddies somewhere across Germany a couple of months after we bonded and that was actually the last time he attended something like that on his own, dragged me to those ever since,” Semir chuckled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So what do you think it would do to someone who was separated from his mate for two weeks or more?” Tom wondered then and Semir opened his eyes, meeting his partner’s questioning gaze.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>-----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, what you’re saying is that the kidnappers are keeping their hostages in their partner’s proximity to keep them cooperative?” Engelhardt circled around Tom’s and Semir’s office while the two sat in their respective seats and Andre stood behind Semir’s chair, observing the exchange silently.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“As well as keep their Alphas from going feral and making it impossible for them to re-enter the Turkish community, they’re definitely still looking for more Omegas to grab before they go ahead with whatever they’re planning to do with them,” Semir said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you think that would be?” Engelhardt asked and stopped moving around.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Judging by how long they’ve kept them alive they’re looking for buyers, Omegas are more profitable than Beta women on the black market,” Andre stated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Engelhardt sighed and crossed her arms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Although I told the police commissioner we’d inform him of any new information we gathered before we reopened the case, I’m afraid with the situation being as dire as it is, there’s no time to wait for his blessings,” she turned to Semir then,” You’ve said the range is eight kilometers before it’s no longer possible to feel your mate?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir looked over his shoulder at Andre and nodded, turning back to the chief.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Approximately yes, Eike said Andre being a superior Alpha doesn’t affect the range, so at least we know they’re still within the province.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Engelhardt hmmed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And with the Turkish district being on the East side of the city, we think that’s the likely area we’re looking at,” Tom added.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s still a large zone to search efficiently, we don’t have enough people for that, that won’t do, until they make another appearance, we have nothing to follow,” Engelhardt shook her head and ran a hand through her hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir clicked a pen open and close against his chin, deep in thought.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tayfun’s pack is hiding their Omegas well enough, ever since we’ve been there two weeks ago, the kidnappers haven’t shown up, they know Alphas there will be on high alert.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I imagine it would help with luring out the kidnappers if the Omegas would freely walk the streets again, but I don’t see that as a viable option and I’m sure Tayfun will tell you the same, if not in a much harsher wording,” Engelhardt argued.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir shook his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But we don’t need them all to walk the streets, we only need one,” he clicked the pen close again as the three sets of eyes landed on him, one more disapproving than the rest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean?” Tom asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“All of the kidnapping victims had absolutely nothing in common, there was no pattern to the abductions, so they’re not grabbing them by type, but by availability, by how easy they’re to grab in the heat of the moment,” Semir explained.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t even think about it, Semir,” Andre warned his mate and the Turk looked over his shoulder at the tall Alpha.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And why not? It’s the most sensible option, or do you think Tayfun’s just going to hand us someone from his pack to use as bait? Yeah, right.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hold on, are you suggesting yourself as a bait? Are you i</span>
  <em>
    <span>nsane</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” Tom rose up from his seat, staring at his partner in disbelief and Engelhardt motioned to him to sit down again, which he reluctantly did.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mr.Gerkhan, that would be extremely dangerous, it’s apparent the abductors act very fast when they appear and disappear just as quickly, that would require careful planning and plenty of officers to efficiently set it up…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre already pushed himself away from the shelf he was resting against to protest, but Semir stood up and raised his hand to his mate’s chest to stop him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What else do we have?! How much longer can we afford to sit and wait before they show up on their own accord?!” He said, his voice rising with frustration, he looked at Engelhardt with pleading eyes,” Do you really think the police commissioner wouldn’t suggest to you the same thing if he knew I was an Omega that came from the same community?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Engelhardt frowned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t care what would the police commissioner suggest, Semir, you’re my officer and I don’t take your safety for granted!” She snapped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <b>You’re not doing this, Semir</b>
  <span>,” Andre’s tone was low and demanding and Semir recognized the unfair advantage his lover had over him as his Alpha, it was difficult to go against his demands when he used that voice on him, he sighed and sank back in his chair with Andre hovering right behind him with unpleasantly strong scent surrounding him, expressing his alarm at what Semir had just suggested.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre usually wasn’t this protective, but the case clearly kept them all on edge when it came down to it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Have you spoken to Mr.Tayfun about possibly letting their Omegas out with their mates? It might be enough to draw the abductors back without risking anybody’s safety.” Engelhardt suggested.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The trio exchanged a look.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not sure if he wants to talk to us at all in that regard,” Semir said with a side glare at his mate, who pretended he didn’t see it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ll have to give it a go since what you suggested initially is certainly off the table,” Engelhardt frowned at Semir.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With that, she left the room and the three of them on their own.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As soon as she was gone, Andre laid his hand on the nape of Semir’s neck as the Omega hid his face in his hands and groaned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think you and I need to have a word, little bird,” the Alpha said seriously.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir lowered his hands just enough to look at Tom who shrugged helplessly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Of course, Andre would be mad about what he said earlier, Semir felt that anger so clearly as if it was his own mind, so when the Alpha pulled him aside to the unoccupied small kitchen, he knew what was coming so before Andre could even utter a word, Semir jumped in to have his input to be said first before he’d have to listen to the onslaught of angry words.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can be angry at me all you want, but the matter of fact is that I came from that place, I was a part of Tayfun’s pack before I left and…” and his words died when Andre simply stared at him wordlessly. The anger still lingered in the air, but the look on his Alpha’s face was more of disappointment, rather than rage.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It took Semir by surprise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Disappointed? Why?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once he fell silent, Andre saw his cue to speak up and took a step closer towards the shorter Omega until they were only a touch apart.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m your family too, or aren’t I?” His words really hit Semir then, he was sure he didn’t finish that sentence earlier, but the heaviness of that statement made it difficult to form an answer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He swallowed hard then.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>How could he even doubt something like that?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course you are, you’re my mate,” he replied and felt a pang of overwhelming guilt when Andre continued to stare at him without any sign of a smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you’re mine,” he agreed and at last, reached out and took a hold of the Turk’s hand, grasping it in his. “ And if I’d lose you too because of them, I wouldn’t take that as well as Tayfun had.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The admission was sudden, Semir anticipated an angry outburst from his mate, not this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You won’t,” is all he could muster then and Andre tilted his head a little unsure what he meant so Semir cleared his throat awkwardly and looked to the ground. “You won’t lose me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could hear Andre humm above him and soon the Alpha’s hand found its way to his chin and his head was tilted up for the warm awaiting lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The kiss was slow and unusually gentle and when Andre pulled away, Semir was staring at him with a seriously confused look.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre straightened up then and patted him on the butt to wake him from his daze.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m still mad at you, but we’ll leave that for home.” He informed him amusedly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir rubbed at his sore behind and watched his mate walk out of the kitchen, he still wasn’t sure what to think of it. Andre was behaving oddly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When they arrived to Tayfun’s garage, Semir knew the welcome wouldn’t be as good as it has been the first time, but the Alpha practically charging at them the second he spotted their car was a surprise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tayfun was marching full on right at Semir, but was quickly stopped by Andre and Tom stepping into his path. Tom pushed the enraged Alpha back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Relax, I’d rather not have to arrest you on top of everything.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the fuck are you doing here? I thought you made it clear you wouldn’t help, so what the hell do you want?!” Tayfun shouted, staring at Semir over the Alpha’s shoulders.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir took a step towards him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We know that Ahmet and the others can’t be further than eight kilometers away from here, we also know they’re likely somewhere East of the city,” Semir explained calmly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The information seemed to have calmed Tayfun down a little, but the Alpha still stared at him and his colleagues skeptically, still, he took a step back and Tom and Andre moved aside.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How did you figure it out? What good is that anyway? Eight kilometers is a fat stretch of land, Semir.” Tayfun snarled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is,” Semir agreed,” That’s why it would help if we had another shot at following their car.” He approached Tayfun closely now, trying to ignore the threatening scent from his mate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And how do you expect to make that happen? If you say I should let our Omegas on the street again, you should really rethink those words,” Tayfun warned him lowly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know, you’d rather see me on the street corner, right?” Semir challenged. His response seemed to have taken the Alpha back and Tayfun stared at him with an uncertain frown.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then he glanced over his shoulder at the two Alphas and the uncertainty dissolved into anger.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you trying to mess with me?! Trying to send out one of our Omegas just so you don’t have to be a fucking bait?!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And before he could make any move, Andre jumped right in and pulled Semir back behind him and Tom.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nobody said anything about bait!” Tom shouted over the enraged Alpha.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s not what I’m gathering from this! Why the hell else would you come here?!” Tayfun spat back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re clearly not gathering anything other than a pissy attitude!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir was about to interfere the growing argument when he spotted something in the corner of his eye and turned to see a child staring at them from behind a corner.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The girl’s scared look had drawn his attention and giving the arguing trio one last glance, Semir quietly snuck away and headed towards the little girl that disappeared around the corner.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he found her, she was crouching on the ground with her arms around her middle, as soon as she realized she wasn’t alone, she let out a yelp and bolted down the alley.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey wait,” Semir shouted after her and followed her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She made it to the main street before she tripped and fell hard on the ground and Semir rushed to her side and picked the crying girl up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay sweetie, I won’t hurt you,” he reassured her and noticed she had a gash on her knee, so he reached in his pocket and took out a tissue, tapping it lightly against the small wound.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her cries rendered into hiccups and she stared at him with wide confused eyes and wobbly lip. She couldn’t have been more than five.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But that wasn’t what caught Semir’s attention.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He looked into her eyes from where he was kneeling in front of her and smiled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You have nothing to be afraid of, I’m an Omega too,” he reassured her and as a sign, his scent enveloped her shortly after and the little girl seemed all the more confused, but soon reached out with her little arms towards him, wanting to be held and so he picked her up and wiped away her tears with the back of his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing out here all by yourself? It’s not safe to be out alone,” he told her while looking around for any sign of parent, or relative she might have escaped from.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I snuck out,” she mumbled, drawing his attention again, “wanted to play, ‘s boring at home all the time.” She hunched her shoulders guiltily.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, well playing on your own probably isn’t fun either, is it?” Semir smiled and began walking with her back towards his colleagues who still haven’t noticed his absence, their argument with Tayfun sounding all the way to where he was with the girl on the main street.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s your name, little one?” Semir asked her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Samira,” she muttered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really? Our names are very similar then, I’m Semir,” he grinned,” one coincidence after another huh?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She gave a little smile and a nod.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As cars drove past them, Semir didn’t hear the modified sound of an engine and the abrupt stop it came to right beside him until it was too late.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everything happened too quickly then, Semir turned his head just as Samira began to scream in his arms and grip at his shoulders in the deathly hold as two men jumped out of the black Mondeo. She recognized them well before he did and it was only his bare instinct or divine intervention that made him shove the child into a nearby man’s arms before there were hands around his throat followed by a sharp pain of a needle piercing his skin and everything was gone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The girl’s scream was what snapped the three Alphas out of their argument and turned their attention to the scene unfolding down the street.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was an ongoing struggle of three men over a little girl being held by an elderly man with one of them suddenly collapsing to the ground only to be gathered by the two accomplices and forced into their car.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre’s eyes widened in shock when he realized the collapsing figure being shoved in a car was none other than Semir.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was running towards them before his brain could even comprehend what was happening.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The angry shouts of Turkish behind him were only a drowned sounds amongst the alarms screaming in his mind over his mate behind in danger and his legs burned with his effort to get there as quick as he could, but he was still too far when Semir’s limp form disappeared from his view entirely once the door of the car closed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre let out an angry snarl and ran into the car’s path as it moved towards him. He wouldn’t let them take Semir. That was his fucking mate. But the car only accelerated as it headed right at him and Andre was already taking out his gun, the weapon unable to aim properly in his unstable hands. He was shaking with desperation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You can’t take him from me.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shot several shots, but the bullets only bounced off the window much to his surprise and the car showed no sign of stopping.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The car got so close to him he could nearly see inside before he was forced out of its path when someone body-slammed him aside and the Mondeo sped past.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre immediately pulled himself up back to his feet and began to run after it again, shooting at it, but his attempts were futile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom’s voice came somewhere behind him but he didn’t acknowledge it, instead, he furiously looked for where their Mercedes was parked and ran towards it instead, he had to follow them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They wouldn’t take Semir from him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t acknowledge the cars that moved past him, the distant cries of the small girl Semir handed to the man, his mind was clogged with nothing else but the need to get to his mate, now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Moments later he was seated in the driver’s seat and ripping the Mercedes’ gear shift to shreds, he heard huffing beside him, when Tom narrowly caught up and jumped in, he could hear him speak to him, probably saying something reassuring but Andre couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to anything other than the black car speeding down the road ahead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The car that seemed to be constantly blocked out of his sight by set of other vehicles following it at the same speed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He couldn’t fucking believe he let Semir out of his sight, of all the damn places it had to be here. He knew they shouldn’t have come here, he knew they shouldn’t have taken that case, if he was going to lose his mate over this, he-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Andre snap out of it!” Tom screamed into his ear loud enough to penetrate that blind desperation. Andre shot him a look and then without a word returned his attention to the Mondeo ahead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Only then he realized he wasn’t the only one following it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There were at least four other cars ahead of them, seemingly doing the same thing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tayfun and his pack went after them the moment you ran at their car,” Tom breathed out and reached for the radio to report it in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre just gripped the steering wheel tightly and stomped on the gas pedal, forcing the car to its limits.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahead of them, the four pursuing cars continued to try and ram the Mondeo off the road, but unsuccessfully, it seemed to continue to speed up even though Andre knew that model shouldn’t be able to reach such speed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just when Andre thought he was finally gaining on them, a black Supra appeared from behind the Mercedes and overtook it within seconds.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s the other car….” Tom muttered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Supra tried to force its way through the cars ahead, but it appeared that Tayfun and his buddies also realized who it might be behind them and promptly blocked the car’s path.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was a grave mistake and as soon as the Supra’s front wheel connected with Tayfun’s Acura NSX-T it spun out and caused a chain crash, the cars collided with one another moments later and along with the Supra caused an unpassable pile-up, forcing Andre to come to a screeching halt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>While Tom jumped right out of the car and ran towards the crashed Supra with his gun drawn, Andre remained in the Mercedes, staring blankly in front of him at the black Mondeo disappearing into the distance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They took his mate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre gritted his teeth, his knuckles white from his crushing hold on the steering wheel and the Alpha within him roaring like a storm at sea.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But all that escaped his throat was a weak whine.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Tom turned around after he handcuffed the suspect to meet the absolute look of anguish plastered all over the superior Alpha’s face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom swallowed hard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir was gone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----------</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You fucker!You piece of shit! Where are they taking him?! Where’s my mate?!” Tayfun screamed at the man Tom just handcuffed and the detective had a lot to do to keep the enraged Alpha away from the guy before he could rip him to shreds.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man didn’t seem as distressed as he should be considering he just got caught.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I could have caught them if you didn’t stop me,” the guy said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The fuck are you talking about?! Don’t try to act like you weren’t with them, you asshole!” Tayfun snarled and Tom shoved him back once again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man sighed and gave them a pitiful smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course not.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom didn’t even notice Andre appearing at his side and staring at the man with cold, empty eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Give me one reason not to break your neck.” He challenged with a calm, even voice that sent a shiver down Tom’s spine.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tayfun wasn’t even close to being an enraged Alpha.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man tried to step away from him, even though Tom was holding him, but figured he had nowhere to go.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He swallowed hard and looked at the group of Alphas gathered around him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My wife was the first Omega they took, your friend is likely the last.” He admitted then.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tom focused on getting their suspect to his office despite his colleagues bombarding him and Andre with questions about Semir’s reported kidnapping. The detective’s worry was not only for his partner’s safety, but the unsettling behavior Andre’s been showing ever since the drive back to the station.</p><p>After they settled down the angered community and protected the Supra driver from getting beaten to a pulp; although Tom felt hardly assisted by his colleague, it was apparent Andre didn’t seem bothered by the possible threat to their suspect, the man repeatedly claimed to be nothing more than one of the victim’s partner and only trying to catch the abductors on a solo mission. Tom found that very hard to believe.</p><p>He led the Alpha towards the office, walking by his side with sets of concerned eyes following them all the way through.</p><p>Tom saw Eike standing in front of his office, a pitiful expression drawn across her face on what Tom realized was Andre walking further up behind him. The building carried the superior Alpha’s unsettling scent, which Tom recognized as one of anger and grief.</p><p>Eike was a Beta and thus couldn’t smell it the same way Tom did, but she understood the way their minds and bodies worked well enough to see how agonizing the loss was for both of them.</p><p>She stepped aside when Tom approached her and opened the door, pushing their suspect in, he spared her one brief look of the plea, hoping she’d understand there was no way to help.</p><p>Nor safe.</p><p>Eike hesitated to reach out to Andre when he moved past her, but something about the tense posture and cold empty stare within his eyes stopped her, he didn’t even look at her, nor anybody else around them.</p><p>When the door closed behind them and Tom sat the man down in one of the chairs, the suspect immediately began to speak.</p><p>“You have to believe me, I had nothing to do with them,” he pleaded, his hands clasped firmly together with the handcuffs restraining their movement.</p><p>“Really? So, how do you explain people sighting your car accompanying the abductors in the Turkish community, hm? Or when you pushed me off the road while I was pursuing them in Alkenrath a few days ago? And now when another Omega gets grabbed, where are you? Right behind them, <b>again</b>!” Tom challenged, walking around the man like a bird of prey.</p><p>The man shifted anxiously in the seat, his eyes darting towards the clock every now and then.</p><p>“I was there when they took my wife, I saw the same car, the same people and have been following them ever since, I’m always one step away from catching them, but something always goes wrong and I’m back to square one,” he sighed.</p><p>Andre walked to his usual spot behind Semir’s chair, which was now empty, and observed him with a cold steel look. He didn’t believe him. Much like Tom for that matter.</p><p>“Why didn’t you report it to the police back then, why this lone warrior act?” Tom pressed on.</p><p>“Would that be your first thought if your mate got grabbed right before your eyes?” The guy argued desperately, ”I was about to pick her up, I was sitting in my car when it happened so I just followed them, didn’t even think of calling the police.”</p><p>“And now six people have been kidnapped, I’m sure that was a better outcome, right?” Tom crossed his arms.</p><p>“I...I…” the man groaned and hid his face in his hands with a whine,” I was afraid they’d kill my wife if the police came after them, it was easier to follow them like this, but I lost them when we entered Cologne last month and stayed here since trying to track them down and I have! I was even about to report the hideout where they had my wife, but then they just suddenly moved her again and-”</p><p>“Hold up,” Tom stopped him then with a raised finger,”How did you manage to find their hideout if you’ve lost them after entering Cologne? This is a large city, not exactly easy to track anyone down here.”</p><p>“I’ve been here for a month! I’ve searched and talked to anyone who might have an idea where people such as them would be and I’ve been directed to some sketchy turkish bar, that’s where I overheard the place they took my wife to.”</p><p>“What was the bar called?” Andre’s voice joined in and Tom turned to his colleague, still staring the guy down.</p><p>The Alpha struggled for a bit to remember but ultimately there was a spark in his eyes with his memory refreshed.</p><p>“Bel Ami--yeah, I’m sure it was Bel Ami, black letters, pink neon sign, but I can’t tell you the street, unfortunately, I’ve only been there once.”</p><p>“And what about the place they were hiding out? Where was it?” </p><p>“Some run-down apartment complex south of the city, it was occupied by a bunch of homeless junkies when I got there, I went in there, but only caught the remnants of my wife’s scent.” The man hung his head,”I can still feel her, but I’m afraid of what they’ll do now that they’ve got what they needed.” He whispered.</p><p>Tom was puzzled.</p><p>“What do you mean they’ve got what they needed?” He asked, but any response he might have hoped to receive was abruptly smothered, because Andre unexpectedly lashed out and grabbed the guy by the throat in an iron grip, hauling the gasping and choking Alpha up from his seat that the chair toppled over. Tom shouted at him to stop and immediately moved in to pull him away, but Andre’s grip was powerful and nothing but the smell of uncontrollable anger filled up the room while Tom tried to loosen his friend’s iron hold on their suspect.</p><p>“Andre, stop it, what the hell are you doing?!” He shouted, seeing in the corner of his eye the quick gathering at the door of their office as other policemen rushed in to pry the enraged Alpha away.</p><p>It felt like an eternity before three officers along with Tom could separate Andre from the suspect, all the while the superior Alpha remained deathly silent other than growling when Tom forced him out of the office with the help of others.</p><p>Andre shot him an angry look, but Tom recognized the pain of grief within those eyes.</p><p>The officers were ready to handcuff him, but Tom stopped them.</p><p>“That won’t be necessary,” he told them, they were confused but backed away. Tom looked at Andre again, the Alpha stared back silently and that was beginning to concern him. Then, Andre turned on his heels and left the offices, even as Engelhardt emerged from her office demanding what happened, Andre didn’t look back.</p><p>Tom checked over his shoulder at the gasping man on the ground with one of the officers rubbing his back and followed his colleague, Engelhardt shouted after him too, but he needed to know what was going on, because if Andre couldn’t regain control, Tom would be on his own trying to find Semir and the others.</p><p>Fortunately, the taller man didn’t get very far and Tom found him leaning against a wall in the parking lot, his hands shoved in his pockets and the scent of an intimidated Alpha slowly but surely dissolving around him into his usual neutral aura.</p><p>He stared blankly ahead at cars passing by on the road ahead.</p><p>Even as Tom walked right up to him, Andre didn’t react to his presence whatsoever, but Tom knew he must have acknowledged him when a crease formed on his forehead.</p><p>“You alright?” Tom realized it was a dumb question, but he felt obligated to ask anyway.</p><p>His friend’s unsettling silence was the only answer.</p><p>“I want to get Semir back just as much as you do,” the Alpha said quietly,”Attacking the only guy who might have a clue where he is, won’t make it any easier, I don’t know what’s happening with you, but I need you to work with me, Andre.”</p><p>The other man’s jaw moved when he visibly bit the inside of his cheek. Still, wordless though, Tom felt eerie, he’s never seen such behavior from him.</p><p>Nor any of the other Alphas that had their mate taken so far, so why was Andre like this?</p><p>“Do you feel him like the others?” He asked carefully. </p><p>Andre finally turned his head in his direction then and in that same worrisome neutral tone spoke out.</p><p>“No, I don’t.”</p><p>----</p><p>Tom watched Anna Engelhardt pace around her office, puffing away smoke from her second cigarette since he went to her office. After they got back inside, she was already waiting for them, furious with Andre over the assault, but after both Tom and Eike jumped in his defense, she resorted to sending him back to his office and called Tom to hers.</p><p>And that’s where he was now, Andrea standing by his side with gathered information in her hands.</p><p>“This doesn’t mean Semir came to a harm, the distance of the station from the Turkish community would surpass the 8km zone you’ve drawn out, it makes sense that Andre is unable to feel him,” she reasoned.</p><p>“Lucas can feel his wife and he’s beyond the zone too,” Tom watched her determined expression slowly fall once he said that,” It’s possible they’ve got the captives in different locations.”</p><p>“No, I don’t think so,” Engelhardt rejected the thought,” It would make no practical sense for them to do that if they intend on trafficking them. What do we know about the driver caught at the scene? Has he said anything useful?” </p><p>Andrea shuffled through the paperwork in her arms.</p><p>“His name is Lucas Stolz, 28, resides in Dernau,” She said.</p><p>“Where’s that?” Tom asked, “Doesn’t sound familiar.”</p><p>“It’s a town south of Germany,” she told him.</p><p>“A little out of hand to be up here, then,” Engelhardt noted.</p><p>“No wonder his car wasn’t popping up when it’s not registered in the province, so the kidnappers took one Omega from some 50km far away town and what? Drove all the way here to grab five more? A bit nonsensical if you ask me,“ Tom felt skeptical.</p><p>“Well, I took a look at Bel Ami as well since Lucas told you about it,” Andrea flipped through the documents further,” The former club owner already had a lengthy criminal history, Mr.Freiter is actually a familiar name to us,” Andrea offered his picture to Engelhardt whose eyebrows shot right up at seeing him.</p><p>“Haven’t seen him in a while, still in prison as far as I know,” She said.</p><p>Tom looked from one woman to the other.</p><p>“Who’s that? Old case?” He wondered.</p><p>“You could say that,” Engelhardt affirmed,” He employed Semir’s cousin at the bar, back in the day Freiter had a plan to build a brothel empire, killed one of his clients to acquire the money, but we arrested him before it came down to construction. The site is still up, but long abandoned,” She explained.</p><p>“Right, what about the current owner?” Tom turned to Andrea.</p><p>“Jakob Konig, suspected of being one of Freiters affiliates, but nothing could be proven of his guilt, so he ran free and bought the club after Freiter got arrested. He’s also been a suspect in several cases of missing women formerly under his employment.” </p><p>Tom exchanged a look with Engelhardt.</p><p>“That could explain why the kidnappers would be seen at Bel Ami then if they knew of the club’s history. If Konig already had experience in human trafficking he might have seen the potential in selling Omegas.”</p><p>“There’s more in it than just sex trade, the extract from Omega’s scenting gland sells for thousands on the black market,” Engelhardt added with a frown,” That might be the only reason none of them have been sold off abroad yet.”</p><p>“And why they’d want to keep them within their loved one’s range, dear god….” Tom muttered, running a hand down his face.</p><p>“To sustain their need to call out for their family and keep the scenting gland active….”</p><p>A heavy silence hung in the room for a long moment before Andrea’s quiet voice broke it.</p><p>“We can’t just sit here and do nothing, they’ve got Semir, if anything happens-”</p><p>“Nothing is going to happen to him!” Tom snapped and regretted it immediately when Andrea stepped back with a look of hurt.</p><p>“Then stop talking and go look for him already!” she shot back and left the office with a slam of the door.</p><p>Tom ran a hand through his hair.</p><p>“I think I should speak with Lucas one more time.”</p><p>The chief glanced warily towards Andre’s office, seeing the silhouette of the man standing by the window.</p><p>“He’s in the holding cell.”</p><p>Tom saw her line of sight then.</p><p>“Are you going to take Andre off the case?” He asked carefully.</p><p>She took a long drag of the remaining nicotine in her wasted cigarette and blew a puff of smoke.</p><p>“I have no other choice, Tom. He could be a danger to you both if he continues to decline like this.”</p><p>“He’s in pain from the severed bond, letting him continue the case could help him rather than keeping him here or sending him home, chief.” Tom pointed out, the worst possible thing in his mind would be to leave the Alpha on edge to his instability without keeping an eye on him.</p><p>“It goes against the policy, you know that. The case is now in his personal interest with Semir being one of the abducted.” Engelhardt shook her head, standing firmly on her decision. “I’m sorry. You can bring Eike with you from now on, but I’m temporarily suspending Andre.”</p><p>The figure in the other room turned towards the two of them watching him for a short moment before he turned away to stare out of the window again.</p><p>----------</p><p> </p><p>Tayfun finished loading up his car and slammed the trunk door close. A small gathering of his friends waited closeby, the sun was well on its way down over the horizon but the silence filling out their streets remained the same for days. Tayfun’s gaze fell on the large dent made in his car from colliding with that Supra, he ground his teeth.</p><p>It was a mistake to let Semir and his cop friends get involved, he expected they’d help, not that he trusted Semir much since he left their pack, but they were still a family and Tayfun thought he could rely on the Omega. </p><p>But now, Semir was gone and the only guy who could have brought them to their missing Omegas, was snatched by the cops, who haven’t sent a word since and Tayfun ran out of patience to keep waiting.</p><p>“What are you going to do, Tayfun?” He heard Omar’s voice behind him and turned around to meet the old man’s judgmental stare.</p><p>“We’re done waiting, now that the cops lost Semir, they won’t give a damn about Ahmet or the others, we’ve gotta make our own move now,” he said.</p><p>“You’re being careless, you’ll only get Ahmet killed this way-”</p><p>“Shut the hell up, old man!” Tayfun snarled.” You’ve had nothing good to say since this all began, I’ve had just about enough of your worthless ramblings, if you’ve got nothing better to say, don’t say anything.”</p><p>Omar’s lips moved into a thin line.</p><p>“Tayfun,” the Alpha looked over Omar’s shoulder to see Yusuf running up, breathing quickly.</p><p>“The cop is at Bel Ami.”</p><p>“Let’s head out then,” Tayfun said and the old man could only watch in silent disapproval as the group of men got in their vehicles and sped off.</p><p>-----</p><p>Tom drove down the highway gathering his thoughts around what Lucas had just told them.</p><p>Eike sat by his side looking at him every now and then.</p><p>“Why would they need such a specific number of people?” She broke the silence.</p><p>Tom glanced at her.</p><p>“If that’s what Konig ordered,” he said,” Lucas said three adults, three children.”</p><p>Eike stared out of the window.</p><p>“Only now they have four adults and two children.” She noted.</p><p>Tom nodded, the thought of Semir being unnecessary addition and Andre’s inability to connect with his mate only heightened his fear that they might do something to his partner before going through with the sale.</p><p>“At least now that we know they spotted Lucas after Alkenrath, we have a small range to search through, right?” She asked hopefully.</p><p>“Not by much,” Tom disagreed,” That 8km zone we measured with Semir would have been only relevant if both Andre and Lucas felt the same connection with their partners, which didn’t happen. So even if we search the 8km, Lucas is able to feel his wife well over that, they could be way out of where we think to search.”</p><p>Eike sighed.</p><p>“I just hope Andre’s not going to go completely feral before we get Semir back. he looked awful at the station.”</p><p>Tom looked at her.</p><p>“Is that what’s happening to him?”</p><p>“There’s no doubt in my mind, I’m really worried about him.” She frowned.</p><p>Tom watched the disappearing sun ahead.</p><p>“I hope he won’t do something stupid since chief suspended him.”</p><p>-----</p><p>Andre sat in his car and stared at the small white pill before downing it dry.</p><p>The pain in the back of his head dulled down a throb already when he took a pill earlier at home, but it wasn’t enough for him to focus.</p><p>It was nothing more than a grim reminder of his failure to protect Semir and as much as he deserved to bear it, he needed to find his mate.</p><p>He got out of the car then, adjusted his jacket, and ran a hand through his hair as he marched towards the entrance to Bel Ami.</p><p>The sun was down by now and the street lamps switched on, illuminating the entrance of the club. Andre’s gaze met with a bodyguard standing at the front and the Turk immediately stood in his way as Andre attempted to pass him.</p><p>“You have to pay the entrance fee first,” the man told him.</p><p>Andre slowly came face to face with the Turk and the man frowned in puzzlement when a smile appeared on his lips.</p><p>“I have to pay?” Andre repeated.</p><p>“Well, yeah like everybody el-” the words were knocked out of the man’s throat when Andre’s fist collided with it and as the bodyguard wheezed for air, Andre pushed him over the railings of the stairs, letting him fall into the bushes below.</p><p>Andre then fixed the collar of his ruffled jacket and resumed his entrance to the club.</p><p>Right away he was met with smoke, loud music and intense red lights, the large room filled with people reeked of mixed scents that it would be impossible for him to distinguish how many Alphas were in the place, but he knew he wasn’t looking for an Alpha now and walked towards the bartender preparing drinks behind a counter across the room.</p><p>“What will it be?” The young man asked with a smile as Andre sat on one of the stools.</p><p>“Water,” the superior Alpha replied, his eyes jumping from each individual to the other. Not the person he was looking for.</p><p>“Water? Doesn’t sound like you’re having fun here,” the bartender replied, but filled up a glass and slid it in Andre’s direction.</p><p>He took one sip and set the glass down, leaning closer towards the bartender.</p><p>The sweet smell that hit his nostrils then was a pleasant surprise.</p><p>“Omega, huh?” Andre smirked and the bartender reeled back, Andre knew he caught his scent too.</p><p>“You don’t smell like the others,” the bartender noted suspiciously.</p><p>“I’m not like the others,” Andre replied casually and pushed the glass back towards him,” I’d like to speak with your boss.”</p><p>“He doesn’t see anybody tonight,” the bartender retorted,” he’s got a business meeting.”</p><p>Andre stood up from the barstool and motioned to the bartender to lean closer. As the young man did, Andre grabbed him by the throat, not too tight, but firmly enough to keep the startled boy from jerking away from him. Some women noticed the exchanged and gasped in shock at the display, but Andre knew they wouldn’t do anything, they were trained well to overlook things like this. Freiter made sure of that before he lost the ownership.</p><p>“Where is he.”</p><p>“Upstairs, the door at the end of the hallway,” the boy gasped with fear-filled eyes, it was apparent he had no idea of the sort of dealings that went down in this business. It was just a puppy.</p><p>It reminded him a little bit of-</p><p>Andre forced the thought out of his mind and bit the inside of his cheek. Now was not the time to think about him.</p><p>He made his way towards the stairs.</p><p>Not that he thought this through, but he knew he wouldn’t leave until he’d get the information he needed. When their suspect mentioned Bel Ami, Andre knew this was the right place to go to if he wanted to find Semir.</p><p>He had no idea who was in charge of this place now since Freiter was behind the bars ever since he shot Semir years ago, but it didn’t seem like the club’s reputation changed all that much.</p><p>He came up to the door soon after and reached out to knock, but then he overheard voices inside and paused. </p><p>“I’m not going to accept this deal, I was very clear with you about my demands and I could care less that a cop got in the way,” Andre could hear an angry voice within.</p><p>“Listen to me Konig, males sell for more than females, you’d be getting even more out of the deal this way!” Another voice pressured.</p><p>Andre checked the hallway for bodyguards and moved further into the shadowed corner near the door, listening on.</p><p>“Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find a seller for a guy? Why do you think I only ever sell girls, I accepted the first one only because of the extract, I’m not taking another one, who the hell would even want to keep a dude for playing? I’d have more luck selling the underage girls than finding a homo buyer,” Kenig, as Andre guessed, shot back.</p><p>“Alphas don’t give a damn if the Omega is a chick or a dude, I can assure you, it would be more profitable than the girl,” the other man pressed on,” We’ll just terminate the embryo and he’ll be good to go, he’s pretty small, that’s an ideal for anyone with high demands.” He sneered.</p><p>Andre was frozen in his hiding spot, he couldn’t believe what he just heard.</p><p><em> Embryo</em>. <em> Semir’s embryo. </em></p><p>Unable to focus on the remaining conversation, Andre slowly slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor, staring on the ground with wide eyes.</p><p>This couldn’t be.</p><p>He ran a hand down his face, pinching the bridge of his nose, the dull pain in the back of his mind still thrumming to the sound of his quick beating heart as he tried to comprehend the news.</p><p>But his time was cut short when the door suddenly swung open and a man stared directly at his hunched form. Andre hadn’t realized that although Kenig wasn’t an Alpha, the people responsible for the kidnappings, were.</p><p>“Who the hell are you?” The man spat and Andre saw him reach behind him, he was on him before the guy’s hand even finished the movement.</p><p>----</p><p>When Semir came to his eyelids felt like they weighed a ton, whatever they drugged him with knocked him out instantly and the last memory he had was the screams of the little girl before the world went dark.</p><p>With the consciousness slowly returning to him, so did the awareness of just how cold his surroundings were, he shivered violently, feeling the icy coldness creeping up his sore limbs. As he blinked once, twice, the blurry vision set straight and the sight of his bare feet came into the view. He lifted his head and was met with a tall square concrete room without windows and a single weak light in the middle. His hands hurt and he tried to move them from their uncomfortable position behind his back, only for the movement to be stopped abruptly with the rattle of handcuffs and chain keeping him tightly locked in his place.</p><p>He shivered again at the guff of wind coming from under the metal door closed up ahead.</p><p>They stripped him of his weapon and all his belongings except for his jeans and short-sleeved shirt he wore the day he went to see Tayfun.</p><p>How long was he in here anyway? Hours? Days?</p><p>No, couldn’t have been days, his beard was the same and he doubted the captors would go through such a tedious length to groom him. Even if their intentions seemed to go in the directions he’d rather not think about.</p><p>Numbing pain spread through the back of his mind then and Semir winced. The drugs were beginning to wear off and his aches were coming to life. He honestly hoped Andre and Tom were okay, he only briefly felt his mate’s alarm before all went to hell and nothing since.</p><p>In fact, now that he thought of it…</p><p>He couldn’t feel Andre at all.</p><p>The sudden overwhelming panic that overtook him forced his body to jerk upwards and jolt painfully with his restrained limbs, pushing him back down accompanied by his pained groan.</p><p>He blinked several times then and looked around in a panic, his eyes catching the multiple hunched figures spread around the room, each with their own chain connected to the wall behind them. </p><p>“Are you alright?” He heard a voice from his right side and turned his head towards it.</p><p>He was met with a very hollow face of a man who looked like he must have been there for a while.</p><p>The man’s face was covered in bruises and a days-old beard, Semir could see especially large bruising all across the side of his throat from multiple needle insertions. His near skeletal figure almost slipping out of the heavy restraints that likely outweighed him by now.</p><p>Semir stared at him in utter shock.</p><p>“Are you Ahmet?” he asked breathlessly.</p><p>The man seemed surprised at Semir’s knowledge of his name and nodded slowly, the chains rattling along behind him.</p><p>“I am, how do you know me?” His voice was very weak and worn from what Semir could only assume was from whatever abuse he had to endure during his capture. Semir swallowed thickly and looked at the other quiet individuals in the room.</p><p>He recognized them all as the missing Omegas, but the girls appeared to be all unharmed. Semir noticed they even had warm clothing and shoes, something neither he nor Ahmet had.</p><p>He counted the two underage girls and two adult women, the number gave him a pause. Four? But only three were reported missing.</p><p>Despite the bulkier clothing, Semir saw one of the women hunched forward, her medium black hair covering her face like a silk curtain. </p><p>“They’re all okay, but I’m afraid we’re not as lucky,” the man croaked again and Semir turned to look at him again.</p><p>“Do you have any idea where we are? What do they want to do to us?” he questioned Ahmet urgently.</p><p>Why the hell couldn’t he feel Andre at all? His head felt like it might explode.</p><p>“Don’t know, they been stabbing me in the neck for days, or maybe weeks, I don’t even know anymore…” Ahmet trailed off quietly,” They’ve been drugging me with something that makes it hard to move, hard to think, I’m always waiting for it to be the last time, for them to just end it, but...I feel Tayfun’s fear and desperation then and I can’t...I can’t-- I just want to go home.”</p><p>Semir watched the man’s babbling dissolve into choked sobs.</p><p>And his own heart tightened with knots.</p><p>Is this what they were going to do to him? Torture him until he’s nothing but a broken man hanging onto his loved one’s memory?</p><p>Except he didn’t even have that and he couldn’t understand why.</p><p>Ahmet eventually calmed down enough and his sobs turned into sniffles.</p><p>Semir felt an obligation to try to put some ease on the poor Omega’s mind.</p><p>“I’m a police officer, Ahmet and I was formerly part of Tayfun’s pack,” he started, drawing the man’s tired eyes to his,” He came to me to ask for help with looking for you and the others and trust me, I grew up with him, I know that guy’s gotta be really damn desperate to come to cops with anything. If there was a bomb, he’d rather blow himself up than report it.” Semir smiled.</p><p>Ahmet seemed puzzled, but the look in his eyes was much clearer now. Whatever influence he was under, was wearing off.</p><p>“You’re a cop? But you’re an Omega.”</p><p>“Trust me, I’d show you my badge, but my hands are a little bit tied up at the moment,” Semir wiggled his arms a little to make a point, and his effort to cheer the man up worked, Ahmet let out a dry pained laugh.</p><p>“Tayfun asking police for help? Never thought I’d live to see that…” Ahmet sighed and looked at Semir’s restrained hands.” Guess you being a cop didn’t stop them from grabbing you, huh?” He added sourly.</p><p>Semir’s brief good mood was quickly shot down then.</p><p>“It didn’t, no,” he admitted.</p><p>They sat in silence for a short moment before Ahmet spoke up again.</p><p>“So what’s your name then? Since you seem to be acquainted with me already,” he asked, clearing his sore throat between sentences.</p><p>“Semir,” </p><p>“You’re Semir? No way,” Ahmet’s brows shot up and he let out another dry laugh.</p><p>“Why? Did Tayfun say anything to you about me?” Semir wondered with a smile.</p><p>Ahmet stretched his bruised feet in front of him and wiggled in his uncomfortable position.</p><p>“Yeah, a little,” he sniffed and looked at Semir,” He told me he wanted to marry you when you were kids.”</p><p>“What? When? I don’t remember that.” Semir stared at him in disbelief.</p><p>“I don’t know, but he was really drunk and walked into a lamp right after he told me, so I thought nothing of it.”</p><p>They both laughed.</p><p>There was a soft whine and they both looked at the remaining Omegas on the other side of the room. Semir’s brow knitted in compassion when one of them tried to shift into a more comfortable position, but the restrains made it impossible.</p><p>“I don’t know what’s their intentions with the girls, but they’ve been keeping them warm and fed the entire time, haven’t seen them hurt a single one of them ever since I’ve been here,” Ahmet muttered.</p><p>“That’s probably for the best,” Semir whispered back, but deep inside he knew the only reason they’d want to maintain their appearance would be to ensure their price remained unaffected.</p><p>As for Ahmet and himself….</p><p>He curled his toes and pushed his legs closer in an effort to warm himself up at least a little.</p><p>Semir had no idea how much time had passed, but it was long after his panic was replaced with his cop senses kicking in and him struggling with his restraints in hopes of finding a weakness, he stopped when there was a sound in the distance of approaching steps and soon the metal door creaked open.</p><p>Semir was dimly aware, he was the only one to raise his eyes towards the two men standing in the doorframe, all the other Omegas remained in their unconscious state and Ahmet only shook violently next to him, whether out of fear or cold, Semir didn’t know, but it hardly mattered.</p><p>With the wind coming from behind them, Semir quickly caught the whiff of their scents and recognized the two men as two Alphas.</p><p>The taller, bulkier man stared at him for a short moment before shifting his attention to one of the girls and shaking her chain, forcing her body to move along with it, she moaned weakly and Semir already felt a sharp remark on his tongue, but it died down when the other man, shorter with blonde hair and skinner frame, dressed in what looked like a scientist, or doctor coat, knelt right before him and looked Semir up and down like some kind of a spectacle. It made the Omega uneasy.</p><p>“Wakey, wakey ladies, time to eat,” the other guy rattled the chains of the remaining women until they all slowly began to come to, moving their heads groggily from whatever they were drugged with.</p><p>Semir was looking at them when he felt the man’s hand swiftly move under his shirt and press against his middle, it startled him so much he jolted in the spot and instinctively tried to move backward, only hitting his head against the wall instead painfully.</p><p>“Now, there really wasn’t a need for that,” the man patronized him, speaking to him as if he was just a child overreacting during a simple checkup.</p><p>He retracted his hand from underneath Semir’s shirt and checked his watch.</p><p>“What did you find out, Dietmar?” the other one asked his accomplice.</p><p>Dietmar pushed up his glasses and clicked his tongue.</p><p>“Well, can’t feel anything, but he went through a heat recently, assisted of course.”</p><p>“But you didn’t find anything?” the other man continued and Semir’s eyes darted from one man to the other, how did they know about his heat?</p><p>“The examination was positive, Brauer, it’s just simply too early to see it with the naked eye, he can’t be more than three weeks,” Dietmar explained and stood up, brushing the dirt off his coat.</p><p>“What are you talking about?” Semir blurted out then, “What three weeks?” He demanded.</p><p>Dietmar and Brauer looked at each other warily as if Semir’s words were the stupidest thing they’ve heard.</p><p>Brauer barked out a laugh while Dietmar chuckled under his breath and bent down to pat Semir on the head.</p><p>“You brought a package with you when the guys brought you in. You’re three weeks pregnant, little guy.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Semir’s entire body went rigid when he heard the man’s words. He was pregnant? After two years of being with Andre, he experienced several heats all of which they spent together and nothing ever came out of it, but now?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two Alphas only expressed amusement at his speechless reaction and Dietmar merely reached behind Semir, feeling for his restraints and once he was satisfied the Omega wouldn’t go anywhere he retreated towards the door. His accomplice, Brauer, meanwhile undid the restraints on the youngest of the girls and placed his arms under her knees and arms, picking her up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where are you taking her?” Semir demanded, finding his voice at last. Brauer ignored him though and carried the child out of the room. Dietmar let his accomplice move past him and then he turned back to Semir.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t worry, you’ll see her again,” he smiled, but it was the sort of a smile that held no good promise and soon the door shut close with a loud bang, causing the remaining girls to yelp to wakefulness.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir stared at the door with wide, disbelieving eyes. How did they find out he was pregnant? What the hell did they do?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The bare idea of somebody touching him while he was unconscious made his stomach lurch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He heard weak groans and whimpers coming from the girls on his left, the dangling of their chains as their bodies moved on the cold uncomfortable ground. He looked at the palest of them all, the only one that certainly wasn’t from the Turkish community, the brunette’s grey eyes met his and her tired expression shifted to one of shock and grief.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh no, not another one,” her voice cracked, just like her spirit has been broken by the extended capture.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The way she looked at him with such a defeated expression, it made Semir want to comfort her, but the truth of the matter was, he was petrified of what would now happen to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sick bastards,” Ahmet muttered beside him, kicking out at nothing in front of him with his weakened frame.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where’s Asya?” the frail voice of the youngest girl left raised Semir’s attention again, drawing him out from his thoughts of escape.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They took her away to feed probably,” the pale woman answered and Semir noticed she was still staring at him,” How did you get taken?” She asked, swallowing dryly. “You’re calm for being the latest victim.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir tried to shift his legs from underneath him as the circulation began to cut off, but when his feet felt the freezing cold concrete again, he shivered violently and balled his hands into fists to bear through the cold.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s a cop, Maya,” Ahmet replied for him before Semir managed to do so himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The brunette didn’t seem to believe it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s no such thing as a cop Omega, don’t be ridiculous, Ahmet,” she dismissed the malnourished man and let out a dry and painful sounding cough, wheezing quietly to regain her breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I work for highway police, A3 and A4, I was investigating your case before this...happened,” Semir replied, finishing the last word with a level of reluctance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“An Omega investigating case of missing Omegas, forgive me if I say that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard--Lale, here,” Maya moved her leg towards the woman sitting next to her that struggled to move her leg from underneath her and helped her. The Turkish woman thanked her quietly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe,” Semir pressed his shoulders against the wall behind him to straighten up a little after sitting hunched over for who knows how long, feeling the chain pressing against his shoulder blades, “I’m Semir by the way.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maya,” she said and nodded to her side at the other two females, “ This is Lale and Senay, Asya’s the youngest, they should bring her back soon.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir tried to smile at the other women, but they avoided his gaze, staring firmly at their feet, long black hair keeping their expressions hidden.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He couldn’t even begin to imagine what they had to endure during those two weeks, even if no injuries were visible and the girls were warmly dressed, it didn’t mean they were spared.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That’s not how things usually went with human trafficking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>All Semir knew for certain was that he definitely didn’t intend on sitting around and waiting for his fate to be sealed. Especially not after what he’s been told.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Although he couldn’t understand why Andre was out of his reach, there wasn’t time to dwell on it, hopefully, his mate was simply too far away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The dull ache in his head made it difficult to think clearly, but he’d live with it, he’s been in tough situations before, he just needed to figure out where the hell they were, first of all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>------</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tayfun’s Audi pulled up at the club, when he checked the clock on his dashboard it was well past nine, and the line at the entrance stretched all the way to the sidewalk. He tapped the steering wheel, looking towards the lit windows upstairs, and turned off the engine, putting his car to park before exiting. The rest of the guys did the same, parking their vehicles along the street and following him to the entrance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The people standing there gave him nasty looks and a few shouted at him for passing the line, but he ignored them and jumped up the stairs where the main gate was, surprised to see a lack of any security outside as there usually would be at places like this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He squeezed past the group standing between the door, their protests quieted by his friends following his example.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Walking down the long hallway leading to the main room of the club, Tayfun reached to his side where his gun rested, he wasn’t 100% sure what he was going to do, but he wouldn’t be turned away this time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The only information he got so far was that one of the cops showed up at the club an hour earlier after Tayfun sent Yusuf to track them after the latest kidnapping.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was the only movement they’ve seen from them so far, but he knew Bel Ami was popular amongst local criminals, that was nothing new, he’s been there a couple of times himself when he really needed something to be dealt with.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But to think they could be involved in Omega trafficking? The thought never crossed his mind, why would it? He brought Ahmet to this place in the past.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he neared the main room of the club, he noted that the music was oddly quiet, the people inside on the other hand, very very loud.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And soon he found out why.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he made his way through the last set of door, he was shoved aside by a woman desperate to get away and the pattern soon repeated as more and more people screamed and tried to get out of the building. Tayfun looked back at his pack and they all ran towards whatever was happening up ahead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The dance floor was absolutely engulfed in chaos, shattered glass everywhere, furniture in pieces, and Tayfun stood in the middle of it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The fuck happened here?” He searched around but saw no fight going on, just people running and screaming until finally, his gaze landed on two men struggling in a fight behind the bar.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When one of them was kicked back and stumbled out from the side, Tayfun finally recognized the cop that stood up and went right after his victim. When he caught Tayfun’s presence, he spat blood and shouted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You wanted your mate’s kidnappers? You’ve got one right here!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The badly beaten man crawled backward until his back hit a wall where he laid wheezing painfully, blood spilling from every orifice in his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tayfun shot the cop a curious look and approached him and his victim even as Andre dragged the man up to his feet by the nape of his jacket.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t do anything, you’re crazy,” the man gurgled when Andre shoved him against the wall.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You didn’t do anything, huh? Let me refresh your memory then,” Andre repeated and slammed him against the wall again, letting the battered Alpha hit his head against it so hard it left a dent.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As surprising as this outcome was, Tayfun certainly wasn’t complaining if the cop was right then this was the right opportunity to squeeze the location of his mate out of the guy. He reached for his gun and without hesitation pressed it against the battered man’s temple, causing Andre to stop and look at him with a frown.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing?” He asked, breathing hard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tayfun kept his eyes set firmly on the man, pressing the nozzle of the gun hard into the man’s skin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where’s my mate?” He demanded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Alpha stared back at him with wide bloodshot eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tayfun pressed harder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Talk!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I told you, I don’t know!” The Alpha screamed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Andre!” A shout coming from behind them made both Tayfun and Andre turn around and in the now empty doorway stood Tom and Eike, staring at the scene before them with shock.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the hell have you done?!” Tom crossed the room in a second and forced Tayfun’s gun down, ripping it out of his grip. When Tayfun moved to claim it back, Eike pointed her gun at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t move,” she warned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tayfun growled but nodded to his pack who had their own hands ready to draw their weapons to stay where they were.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom grabbed Andre’s wrist when he wouldn’t release the man.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let him go, Andre! Do you have any idea how much trouble you’re in?!” Tom hissed, but Andre kept his eyes set on the guy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nowhere near what this asshole is,” he snarled,” He was trying to sell Semir to the club owner.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom looked around then.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where’s the club owner? And let him go, Andre, goddamn it!” He demanded, finally forcing Andre’s iron grip off the guy until he slumped to the ground.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He ran,” Andre said and wiped the blood from his mouth, he hardly felt any pain from the adrenaline still flowing through his system.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He ran?!” Tom repeated in disbelief, still holding Tayfun’s gun he reached for his handcuffs and restrained the injured Alpha hastily, turning to Tayfun instead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And what the hell were you doing here? Don’t you think you’re in enough trouble from last time? I should be arresting you too!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Me? I didn’t beat up the guy, your fellow cop did,” Tayfun sneered and Tom frowned in Andre’s direction, but the superior Alpha didn’t seem phased at all, only shaking his bruised fist in order to ease the numbness.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What got into you, Andre?” Tom stood up, looking at his friend. “ I understand you’re upset that Semir’s gone, but this isn’t how we handle this.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The look he received from Andre could slice through bones, the taller man approached him then, staring at him coldly, challenging him to look right back into his eyes to see just how deadly serious he was about this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m capable of much more and I couldn’t care less how you feel about it,” he said and turned his hateful gaze at the injured man, “ I know now why I couldn’t feel Semir and this piece of shit didn’t hesitate for a second to take that away from me too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Take what away from you? What are you on about?” Tom demanded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tayfun was just as intrigued then, looking from one cop to the other, definitely not the escalation he anticipated. In the distance, they could hear the sound of sirens as patrons of the club called the police.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre looked away then, hiding the shift in the emotion from his colleague. Tom was genuinely becoming more and more worried about his partner’s safety then, what the hell did Andre find out?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Semir’s pregnant,” the Alpha said finally and violently kicked the injured man in the leg,” And this asshole said he’ll terminate it!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Tom’s mouth fell open.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>------</span>
</p><p>
  <span>To say Engelhardt was upset over Andre’s choice of action was an understatement. She was livid.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once the police arrived at Bel Ami, they were greeted by the sight of three people surrounding two battered Alphas, one looking worse for wear than the other by a long mile. Tom flashed his badge as they rushed in ready to arrest everybody and only thanks to Eike’s quick thinking Andre wasn’t arrested.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the early morning hours, Anna received the phone call from Tom first over what had happened, even if he left some vital details out, the words ‘suspect’ ‘a little beaten up’ and ‘Andre’ was more than enough to make her blood boil. She immediately ordered the trio to return to the station and once she saw a line of cars pulling up, she was out of the door. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The police commissioner would have her ass over this, but not before she dealt with Fux first.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hushed whispers echoed behind her as she stomped her way towards the main entrance, holding no restraint on her anger.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Did you hear the radio? There was a beatdown at some Turkish club’ They whispered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Yeah, it was a real mess too apparently, I wonder if it’s connected to Semir’s disappearance-’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It didn’t take graduating a police academy to know the answer to that, if Andre was there, Anna knew for certain he was listening to her conversation with Tom earlier that day. She should have known he’d do something stupid, but even this level of stupid was new.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She walked out to the parking lot just as the group was getting out of the car and upon seeing Andre’s bruised face, she marched right up to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom and Eike were already moving in her way, undoubtedly crafting another excuse for their colleague, but she would have none of it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre didn’t see her coming right away, so when she suddenly appeared right in his face, the man was known to have the ability to make people afraid just by giving them a bad look, visibly jumped back in startlement.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fux, I’ve had just about enough of your crap! Do you have any idea of the consequences of your actions?! You were suspended for a reason, you’re lucky I don’t throw you in a cell and throw away the damn key, you stupid idiot!” She jabbed a finger into his chest as her voice reached an octave well above what’s bearable.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre stared at her with an almost comical wide-eyed surprise, she’s never yelled at him to this extent, and frankly, seeing him as bruised as he was, she felt just a little bit bad about it, but her compassion quickly dissolved when she realized the person of the assault wasn’t with them, only Tayfun and his goons staring at her from the sides of their cars.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened to the man Andre allegedly fought with?” She placed her sharp question in Eike’s direction in hopes of getting more accurate answers out of her than she would out of Tom who despite all odds still seemed to be defending his colleague.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eike shifted a startled deer-eyed look from one colleague to another and Anna could see Tom looking at her as if silently trying to guide her to what to say.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kranich is not talking to you, Eike, I am.” Anna snapped and Tom quickly looked away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, he had to be transported to the hospital for treatment, but we’ve spoken to the officers of the city police and they were nice enough to let us take over him when the doctors release him after we’ve told them about our investigation, so” Eike twirled a strand of her blond hair anxiously while doing her best to not look at either Andre or Tom at that moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, isn’t that just very kind of them,” Anna said sarcastically and turned to Andre again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Would you mind explaining to me what has the man done to be turned into a punching bag? Or why is the owner of Bel Ami missing?” She turned the last question to Tom.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre gathered his bearings then and before Tom could come up with a coherent sentence to respond, he spoke out first.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I walked in on them just as the guy offered the owner his </span>
  <em>
    <span>merchandise</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but one of them wasn’t on the list he ordered, Kenig doesn’t seem to be too fond of male Omegas apparently,” he spat the words like venom and Anna’s brows knitted together with worry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You mean to say that you’ve caught one of the men responsible for the kidnappings? You know those are serious allegations, do you have any proof that this would be the right man?” She asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre stood stiffly and ran his tongue over the bruise on his swollen lip.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He said the Omega would have higher value once they’d get rid of his embryo,” he said,” and if there’s one thing I know, it’s that once an Omega is pregnant, he needs to be close to feel his mate,” the cogs slowly started to turn in Anna’s head, he could see that when he looked at her again and found the strength to finish his thoughts,” I’m the only one that can’t feel anything.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The heaviness of that statement hit hard and Anna stood in place without words to say for a long moment, running her hand through her hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They can’t hurt him if we got the Alpha though, right?” Tayfun said from where he stood.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, but they are probably waiting for him to let them know the trade went through, which he won’t if he’s in the hospital with a scrambled brain,” Tom sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anna nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He must be monitored so he can’t call his accomplices, if he does, I’m afraid it would be too late for Semir and the others…” She turned to Tom and Eike. “You two head over to the hospital, as soon as the doctors give you permission to take him out of there, bring him here,” Tom nodded and ran to the driver’s side of his Mercedes while Eike got in. “Oh and Tom?” Anna called out again, so the detective paused in his step, “Call Andrea if they positively ID’d him, we need to know what we’re dealing with.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre watched his colleagues drive off with a warry look, before turning to Engelhardt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re not going to send me home again, are you?” He worried.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“As if that worked the first time,” she muttered, hating the smile that appeared on his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, chief.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As they turned to head inside the station, Tayfun called out after them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What about us?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anna exchanged a look with Andre.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t feel like you’ve got yourself in enough trouble, Mr.Tayfun?” She called back,” I suggest you return home and hope no charges are pressed over you threatening a man with a gun.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That didn’t seem to sit well with the Turk.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now hold on a minute, so you let </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span> get away with nearly killing the only clue you got and I’m the one who has to go home and sit on his ass?!” he snapped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anna raised an eyebrow at his angry display and took a step towards him.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“I’ve shown you both equal leniency that you won’t be sharing a cell tonight, I think that’s more than enough considering the circumstances,” she said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But he gets to look for his mate and I don’T?!” Tayfun continued.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mr.Fux will be staying here with me, where I can keep my eyes on him unless you want to have the same, I suggest you do as I say and go home, Mr.Tayfun,” Anna retorted calmly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Turk looked from the chief to the bruised Alpha and turned around with an angry growl, before getting in his car and speeding off with the rest of his pack.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>While watching the cars disappear down the road, Andre shifted his gaze to Anna.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s not going to go home, he’s getting desperate to get his partner back,” He said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have no doubt about that,” she agreed,” but time is of the essence now that we have one of the kidnappers and any small mistake could cost the lives of Semir and the other Omegas. We need to find out where they’re hiding them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>-----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir had no idea how much time have passed since he woke up or whether it was night or day, with nothing but four plain concrete walls surrounding him, he felt claustrophobic. The uncomfortable ache in the back of his mind wouldn’t go away, instead, it increased the intensity of his growing headache.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre was still too far away, undoubtedly feeling just as horrible. They’ve been apart before, but never to this extent, never for it to hurt and Semir knew it was because of the baby, there really couldn’t have been a worse time to end up in a situation like this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His throat tightened at the thought he couldn’t share the news about their child with his mate, unable to see the look of surprise on his face, or marvel in the warmth of his embrace. Andre was always really warm, like a walking heater, Semir never figured out how’s that possible but as long as he could take advantage of his mate’s strange powers, he wasn’t one to complain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His thoughts and the even breaths of others with him were the only sounds in the otherwise deathly silent room. After the Alphas returned with the little girl, they took the remaining women to eat. When it came to Ahmet’s turn, he watched them toss a muesli bar into the man’s lap and laugh as they watched him struggle to reach it with his restrained hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When they turned to leave, he ought to ask them what about him, although it was apparent the male Omegas held no value in their eyes. They looked at him and the smile that appeared on their lips made him quickly regret he asked anything.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The one in the white coat, Dietmar as Semir remembered now, walked up to him and patted him on the cheek, much to Semir’s annoyance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s no way we could feed you the same way as the rest. You’ve got a baby, after all, we’ve got something special for you tomorrow, so be patient,”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With that cryptic message, he was gone and Semir was only left staring at the door as it shut firmly behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahmet stopped in his effort to get the food he was given.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What did he mean by that?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir shook his head without sparing him a look.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But it left him restless for the remainder of the night.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Or day.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Whatever it was, he just wanted to get out of there already.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He spent the time he had awake on his own feeling for his restraints, regular handcuffs looped through a chain hook, he ran his finger over the loop trying to find the spot where the handcuff chain was inserted, but he couldn’t find any, so it must have been welded together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Right, so he’d have to pick the lock behind his back rather than have the option to twist the handcuffs in front of him, not an easy task, but certainly doable.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>All he needed was something to pick the lock with now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He looked around the room at the debris laying on the ground, but other than wrappers, empty bottles, and little stones, he couldn’t find anything of the shape he needed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Damn it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He glanced at the sleeping Omegas, all completely out of it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>How did they all fall asleep so fast after eating?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He started to seriously worry about what they were being fed and felt somewhat of a relief that he wasn’t given anything, even at the cost of his stomach lurching with hunger after sitting there for hours and not having eaten anything other than the rice cakes before he was grabbed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That along with the splitting headache wasn’t ideal, but it kept him awake and alert.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After several more attempts to search the trash and debris around him, he gave up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d have to think of something else.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The sound of the metal door rattling open awoke him. When did he fall asleep? The familiar figures entered the room, a bit too soon after last time for Semir’s liking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wake up ladies and gentlemen, time to take you for a walk,” Brauer clasped his hands together until they were all stirring awake, he noticed Semir looking at him then and smiled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re going on a whole trip, boy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dietmar walked in accompanied by two men Semir had never seen before, they didn’t smell like Alphas either, but he sure as hell didn’t like the way they were staring at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bring him to the kitchen and wait there, I’ll be there in a minute,” Dietmar pointed at him and as the two men approached Semir, he walked over to Ahmet and knelt next to him. Ahmet immediately began to protest, his chains rattling loudly with his futile attempt to move away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please don’t, please!” He begged tearfully and Semir saw the terror in his eyes before his own restraints came undone only to be replaced by a different set of handcuffs and he was hauled out of the darkened room, hearing only the pained cries when a needle that Dietmar clutched in his hand, moved out of Semir’s line of sight and into Ahmet’s throat, the Omega’s cries picking up on volume. The girls started crying immediately after and Semir could hear the echo of Dietmar hitting Ahmet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shut up! It won’t hurt any less if you keep resisting, you’re lucky you’ve still got plenty of extract….”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Alpha’s voice faded away the further the men dragged Semir down the dark corridor until they entered a large room with a medical table in the middle of it. The cupboards and counters surrounding it partially open with numerous small bottles in each compartment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This was the kitchen?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His captors didn’t give him any more time to take it in and pushed him towards the table, Semir stumbled and fell painfully to his knees, feeling the hard concrete beneath him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That’s all it was all around, just concrete walls, concrete ground, no windows, and poorly lit rooms, they must have been underground somewhere.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It would be near impossible to find them then.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His heart sank.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>How would Andre and Tom ever find him if he’s somewhere beneath the surface? He had to get out of there himself, there was no other option.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two seemingly young men forced him to sit up on the table then and as he struggled against their hold, they revealed bounds from underneath it, restraining him to the cold steel surface until he could barely wiggle, his arms painfully digging into his back with the tightness of the bounds pressing against his chest and stomach.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stopped struggling then.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t just him now, after all, he remembered sadly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two men moved away then and walked out of Semir’s sight, seemingly satisfied with their handiwork, he heard the door shut in the distance and the click of heels against the stone approaching in his direction.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Unable to raise his head, he listened on, his heart beating fast within his chest of whatever was to come.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, now that’s over with, let’s take a look at you, little guy,” he heard the disturbingly cheerful tone when Dietmar approached him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Alpha hummed to himself and moved past Semir to browse through the cupboards.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What am I going to give you, hm,” he muttered to himself and Semir heard the clinking of bottles as Dietmar took them out and read the labels.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Doxepin, no…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He placed the bottle back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tramadol’s too weak, although you are pretty small, so who knows,” He chuckled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir felt cold dread wash over him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Drug him, the guy was going to drug him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Anaprox, not a fan-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir couldn’t bear it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is there no way I can convince you to let me be?” He tried.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Motrin, not really what I’m looking for….” Dietmar carried on, ignoring his plea completely and all Semir could do was wait with fear clenching at his chest as the bottles continued to clink.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Until…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, this’ll work just right for the little bean,” It was the most horrifying thing Semir had heard in his life.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Uncaring of the pressure it put against his stomach, he struggled with the bounds as hard as he could. Feeling the leather dug into his skin, burning and bruising it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then he felt the prick of a needle as Dietmar injected him with whatever unknown drug he came up with right up his arm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Semir didn’t cease to struggle and soon there was a snap and Dietmar cursed loudly as the needle broke, lodging in Semir’s arm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dietmar hit him across the face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you stupid?! Look what you’ve done!” He shouted and the two men from earlier rushed in to hold him down as Semir only increased his frantic struggling. He was terrified.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Take him back to the others, he’s panicking too much,” Dietmar sounded annoyed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two of them now struggled to keep Semir under control and only with their combined effort managed to hold him down still enough to undo the leather bounds before they could get him down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The tip of the needle protruded from his skin oozing with a little bit of blood.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What about the needle?” One of them asked, avoiding the injury while they restrained him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll deal with it when he calms down, hopefully, the full dosage got in before the idiot broke it,” Dietmar sighed and Semir was dragged away. Dietmar picked the half-empty bottle up and wiggled it in the air, looking at its contents.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe I’ll just give him the rest to be sure.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>------</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom and Eike arrived at the hospital thirty minutes later, they were informed that the Alpha didn’t suffer any life-threatening injuries and would be able to travel to the station after a short rest, he’s been identified as well, but nobody believed the information would be legitimate, still, Tom called Andrea to check it out anyway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you think he’s going to tell us where he’s holding Semir and the others?” Eike wondered as they walked down the hallway towards his room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not without some convincing, doesn’t help that we’ve got nothing on him other than what Andre overheard,” Tom brooded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We might be able to find the place without him, if Semir’s pregnant then the range for Andre to feel him is much smaller.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s still 8km no less, that’s a lot of buildings, and Lucas isn’t talking.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They came to a stop in front of a room with an officer, the older man looked up, clutching a magazine in his hands. Not the most attentive security, Tom noted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is he awake?” Tom asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The officer leaned over, opening the door a little and peeking in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom gave his colleague exasperated look and opened the door all the way, letting Eike walk inside first before following her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Alpha was sitting on the hospital bed, plasters decorating his face and neck from the various injuries Andre inflicted on him, his eyes were both nearly swollen shut and Tom noticed the cast on his left arm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre certainly left a number on him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mathias Koch, assuming that is your name,” Tom began while the Alpha avoided their gaze,” Where are the Omegas?” Tom figured he might as well get straight to the point.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t know what you babbling about,” Mathias grumbled,” You should be asking your friend where he hit his head, he attacked me for no reason.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom moved from around the bed to the front where Mathias was looking to get into his line of vision.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Would it be easier for you if I brought in the eyewitnesses from the Turkish district?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mathias visibly stiffened.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Doesn’t prove anything,” he insisted coldly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why Turks specifically? Did Konig request those Omegas from you? Is that what it was?” Tom carried on, dismissing his unwillingness.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He did, didn’t he?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mathias remained silent.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why did you try to pull a gun on the Alpha you fought with?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He attacked me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really?” Tom clicked his tongue,” I’m sure the cameras at the club will confirm your story, then.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He saw the Alpha visible grow pale, but his lips pressed into a thin line. He really wouldn’t make it easy for them, would he?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Konig is going to cover his own hide when he’s found and he will be,” Tom assured him firmly,” And things will be even harder for you the more you deny your involvement, Konig can say you forced him into it, that you made him make the deal with you, the Alpha who overheard you two speaking certainly heard enough for that outcome and I can assure you, no bail will be enough to let you see the other side of those bars.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mathias let out a low growl and turned his gaze away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom could tell he was becoming cornered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ve got two options, Mathias,” he leaned against the bed frame, looking right at the injured man even though the guy was completely ignoring him now,” You tell us where you and your accomplices hid the Omegas, if they’re all alive, you might get out of jail in twenty years. But if you keep trying to play this game of making an idiot out of yourself, after you’ve kidnapped a police officer and outright confessed to premeditated unlawful termination of pregnancy and we find you’ve fulfilled that threat, you’re going to die in jail and not just any jail, we’re talking Stammheim in Stutttgart, specialized confinement for Alphas and you really wouldn’t like it there.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mathias’ eyes snapped towards him now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s just an embryo, that’s-” He snapped his mouth shut right away then and Tom watched him with a small smile spreading across his lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why did you travel halfway across Germany with Mr.Stolz’s mate? Are you aware he pursued you to Cologne?” Eike asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mathias stared at her with a frown but sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Look, I had nothing to do with the kidnappings, I was only meant to find a buyer, I don’t even know what they’ve been doing with them when they brought them in. They came to me with the woman already, I didn’t know where they got her,” he admitted finally and Tom felt like he just hit a jackpot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who are ‘they’? How many people are involved in this?” Tom asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t know, five or six? I’ve only ever talked to the one guy who picked which Omegas would be grabbed, he gave me their photos and medical information for the buyer and I went with that,” Mathias poked at his cast anxiously. “ Look, I really have nothing to do with this other than making the offer to the buyer, I haven’t even seen the damn Omegas…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you know where they are being held? How long are the others going to wait for your response? Say something useful if you don’t want to be shipped off to Stammheim!” Tom snapped and Eike placed her hand on his wrist.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know where they keep the Omegas, the deal was they would bring them to Konig after he accepted the deal!” Mathias exclaimed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, they’re waiting for you to call them and they’ll bring them to whatever location you say?” Eike thought promisingly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mathias shrugged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know, maybe?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom and Eike exchanged a look.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>------</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After Semir was thrown back into the room and the adrenaline ran out at last, he sat waiting with his hands once again firmly bound behind his back and the needle wound still oozing blood, just a thin strip, but the cold metal stuck within made it sting horribly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t know what Dietmar injected him with, but he anticipated the effects to start to show soon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The moment he’d be out to think rationally, he’s either dead or shipped off to be some foreign’s Alpha plaything.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And his baby most likely dead, as that’s what the goal seemed to be here.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It drove him all the more to want to get out of there and he knew his time was ticking with each passing moment he spent sitting there and doing nothing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He needed something sharp to get those handcuffs off, the Alphas would be gone for a while, they always have been so far whenever they went in to “feed” them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>All four of the girls were sitting by the wall, wide awake and muttering amongst each other while staring at Ahmet’s slumped form.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’s been in this position ever since they dragged Semir back and hasn’t moved since, red mark on his throat indicated the puncture wound of Dietmar’s needle and the only sign of him still breathing was a barely noticeable movement of his shoulders.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It didn’t look like he could withstand another such treatment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is he alive?” Lale whispered, Semir looked at her. She was staring at Ahmet with a worried expression, they’ve all been down here for two weeks. They must have grown close.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” Semir reassured her, but didn’t dare to offer more, with how malnourished the man was, he was worried too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He struggled to reach for the wound on his forearm, intending to push the broken tip of the needle through the skin, but he couldn’t reach with the handcuffs digging into his flesh to the point of drawing blood.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He huffed with frustration after another failed attempt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you trying to do?” Maya asked, looking at his arm curiously. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir was about to tell her when he realized where her legs were. She was the closest to him next to Ahmet who was out cold and since she was visibly tall, the tips of her feet reached just enough…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maya, I need you to do something for me,” he said quickly,” Can you press your foot in the crease of my elbow? As hard as possible.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” She asked confused.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just do it please,” he urged her, they needed to do this quick because once he’s out of it, that’s it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sitting parallel to him, Maya shifted her foot to the right and pushed the tip of her shoe into the crease of his elbow just as he wanted, he could feel the needle shift. Good.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, press your foot now, slowly, I don’t want you to break my arm,” he guided her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He felt the pressure slowly but surely increase and with it, the pain as the tip of the needle began to push out, Semir gritted his teeth, and seconds later the small piece of metal clinked on the floor beside him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes! Thank you, Maya,” He smiled and leaned as close to the ground as the restraints allowed him, reaching blindly on the dirty, dusty ground until he felt the pin-sized object between his fingers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is that?” Maya asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Our way out of here hopefully,” Semir twisted the piece of metal between his fingers, praying he wouldn’t drop it as he tried to reach the keyhole of the handcuffs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hasn’t picked a lock in months, but he practiced the skill enough as a kid and it was like riding a bike.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t seriously think a piece of metal will just get you out of these, do you,” Maya said incredulously.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But then, there was a click and a big grin spread across Semir’s lips as he revealed his now unrestrained hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The girls gasped and Maya’s mouth fell open.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I’ll be damned.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Without another thought, Semir jumped to his feet and quickly moved to do the same to everybody’s restraints until every single pair of handcuffs hanged on the chain with no Omega bound to it. The girls stumbled to their feet, trying to regain some feeling in them while Semir gently patted Ahmet on the cheek after freeing him too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wake up Ahmet, come on,” Semir urged the man, hoping it wasn’t too late for the malnourished Omega.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a long moment, there was nothing, but eventually, Ahmet’s eyelids fluttered and met Semir’s eyes in a dazed look.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Semir, wha-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re getting out of here, Ahmet, that’s what, come on, up you go!” Semir stood up, pulling him along. Maya moved to his opposite side and helped Semir hold him up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How are we going to leave if there’s only one way out? What if the door’s locked?” She worried.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir motioned to Lale.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Help Maya hold him for a second,” he told her and once the women supported Ahmet’s wobbly feet, Semir jogged over to the door and carefully tried the handle on the metal door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t hear them lock it a single time they’ve been here, why do that if they’ve got an entire pharmacy of drugs to keep you from even thinking of running away….”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The door creaked and Semir paused.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s really loud, they’ll hear us,” Asya, the youngest, whispered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir frowned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They’d have to risk it. His hand wandered to his stomach.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was too much at stake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He turned to the girls.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No matter what’s outside that door, you all have to keep moving, okay? This is our only chance to get out of here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With that, he opened the door wide with one loud creak and moved, the girls right behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>-----</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Andre’s eyes moved over the map slowly while the officers moved around behind him. He placed his finger on a little dot with the name of Alkenrath and traced down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Manfort, 2 kilometers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Schlebusch, 2.5 kilometers</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then nothing but a line of trees, he moved past it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kunstfeld, 4 kilometers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dunwald, 5 kilometers maybe?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A lot of heavily populated areas, not the most ideal to hide six people efficiently without drawing attention to themselves, Andre moved his hand away. He winced as his headache returned with the pain medication running its course.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Since Semir’s been taken he hasn’t gone home, afraid the scent of his mate filling out their home as it always did, would trigger something far worse than his bad moods.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The need to see him, to hold him again, was impossible to describe.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He never knew how much could he miss the little bird.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were getting close to finding him though, he was sure of it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre turned to where Lucas sat by Engelhardt’s desk while she phoned somebody, a mug of cold coffee clutched between his hands and a worn-out expression on his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It still surprised Andre that Lucas could feel his wife so far out, so maybe they were only 2 kilometers from the location of the rest of the kidnappings, but that still felt pretty far out for a strong emotional connection.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t even notice if Tayfun was the same when they arrived at the parking lot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His mind was a mess, he felt like he was losing control.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Andre, to my office please,” Engelhardt called out moments later and the Alpha grabbed his own abandoned mug of coffee and stalked towards the chief’s office.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Eike just called, they’re bringing Mathias in, he confessed to setting up a trade with Konig over our missing Omegas,” Anna ran a hand through her hair after Andre closed the door behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucas took a sip of his cold coffee without a word, Andre spared him a brief look before turning to Engelhardt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where,” he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where what?” Anna stared at him, not following.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre’s brows knitted together, his fingers tightening around the mug.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where are the Omegas?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She could see the dark look in his eyes promising nothing good.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We don’t have a location yet, Eike said they intend to try and make Mathias confirm the transaction went through, to see if the kidnappers catch the bait and bring them out.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre hmmed and stared into his mug morosely.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Engelhardt sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know it doesn’t sound most ideal, but Mathias only ever spoke to one of the Alphas, if he confessed this much, he’s got no reason to hide the location or lie about the level of affiliation.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s going to call them from here?” Lucas asked then, looking up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s the plan, yes,” Engelhardt affirmed,” Why, is there a problem, Mr.Stolz?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Lucas set his mug on her table with a small nod.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They won’t fall for it, they’re not stupid, if he calls them, they’ll think it’s a setup right away.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre frowned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What makes you think so?” Engelhardt wondered, “ Have you ever interacted with them at any point to be so sure?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I haven’t,” Lucas retorted,” But I followed them for a month and they evaded me this whole time, as far as to abandon their first hideout the moment they got a feeling someone snitched them out, do you seriously think they’d believe an obvious trap like that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Engelhardt raised an eyebrow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What would you have us do, then?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucas rested his chin in his hands, staring ahead thoughtfully.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They already have to suspect something’s wrong, but I think we could catch them before they move the Omegas again, they always use the A4 to get in and out of the city, but if the guy calls them, they’ll use the forest roads to disappear again, they used those when I followed them here too. If they’re on the east side of the province like you think and I was lead to believe while pursuing them, then just set troops along the paths on the east side of the forest along A4, because that’s the highway they’d use to get out of here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> The two of them stared at the man in silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How can you be so sure of this?” Andre deadpanned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I told you I’ve been following them for a month, do you think I’d get this far without seeing some kind of a pattern?” Lucas snapped, throwing Andre a surly glare.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre returned the glare with just as much intensity.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright gentlemen, let’s calm down,” Engelhardt stood up from her seat,” I understand you’re both on the edge, but the last thing we need is more fighting.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucas scratched the back of his neck in a display of shame.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re right Chief Engelhardt, I apologize,” he told Andre, offering his hand to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The superior Alpha just scowled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ll do it like this then, Cobra 9 will be waiting on the Gruner Weg bridge down South, Cobra 7 the 3 kilometers down the road and Andre and I will be waiting on the highway where it steers off onto the dirt road of the forest,” Tom traced over the map as everybody gathered in the room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where will I be then?” Lucas asked, standing amongst them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Engelhardt shot Tom a warry look.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can’t participate in the operation, Lucas,” Tom informed him with a frown,” We appreciate your help in this, but-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But if it wasn’t for me, you’d still be running around like headless chickens,” Lucas said with crossed arms,” don’t forget that followed them to their hideout once already, if things haven’t turned out the way they had, I might have found this one too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That still doesn’t change the fact that this is a six person kidnapping situation and you’re a civilian,” Tom pressed on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s right buddy, just trust us,” Herzberger patted Lucas on the back and the Alpha turned to him with a frustrated huff.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not sitting here while you’re all out there,” he insisted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can wait on the highway with Andre and Tom if you must insist, if everything goes according to plan, the kidnappers will be stopped before they cross the bridge,” Engelhardt suggested.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucas pondered over that and then nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Herzberger smacked him on the back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good man, don’t worry, we’ll get them all back, our Semir too!” He cheered and the others did so too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay then, chief, you’ll handle Mathias then?” Tom turned to Engelhardt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s in the holding cell until you’re all set, then we’ll make the call,” she affirmed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right then, let’s go save our little damsel in distress,” Tom clasped Andre’s shoulder and watched a little smirk appear on his lips for the first time since this all went down.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The group moved down the long hallway with quiet steps with Semir in the lead. They didn’t have an issue of where to go, there was only one hallway leading from their room of captivity to the place their captors called the kitchen. Maybe Semir should have asked the girls if they’ve ever been beyond this place, but it was too late to worry about that now, they didn’t have the time to plan out their escape.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So far, nobody appeared ahead and Semir could see the flickering light of the kitchen room growing near. The smell of Alphas was all around them, so it was impossible to say whether there was somebody in the room ahead or not, so Semir came to a stop short before they got to the room, the girls and Ahmet; who regained enough consciousness to stumble ahead on his own now, following in suit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir waited.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The cheap lightbulb buzzed ahead and every now and then a droplet of water echoed within the walls, but other than that, it was deathly quiet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Was there really nobody in there?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir inched forward again, cautiously peeking over the corner,but spotting nobody in the large room and catching a glimpse of three separate door in each corner.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Which door?” He whispered, looking over his shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know, I’ve never seen anything beyond this room,” Maya whispered back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They’ve taken you to a bathroom somewhere, so you must have been further than this,” Semir pressed on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, when I was drugged up!” Maya hissed,” I don’t know, the left door maybe?”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Right, guess we’ll have to try them all then</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Semir thought to himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stay out of the light, in case somebody comes in,” he whispered and moved along the wall towards the closest door on the east side of the room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he moved, he noticed the complete lack of furniture rest for the kitchen itself, the place stank of plaster, sand, and paint, just like a place under construction.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The metal beams protruding from the wall they inched past only seemed to reinforce that thought.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They heard a voice in the distance and all of them froze in the spot, hunched in the dark corner of the room, they waited for whoever it was to appear through one of the doors, but it soon came to Semir’s realization that the voice came from within the door they were nearing and the closer the got, the louder it was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He made a shushing motion at the group behind him and inched closer to the most eastern door, listening on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t fucking yell at me, I’ve told you from the start we’d need to move eventually---you think I had time to browse real estate?! Whatever, what’s the problem this time?” Semir recognized one of the Alpha’s voices coming from within and the sound of his steps as he paced back and forth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not this door, then.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They quietly moved past the eastern door towards the other exit on the northern side of the room, Semir pressed his ear against it, listening on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nothing but the whistle of a wind which he could feel blowing on his exposed feet, that could very well be the exit, he carefully tried the handle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But the door didn’t budge.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shit, it’s locked,” he swore quietly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They must have the keys on them,” Ahmet whispered, his voice rough.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The girls huddled close together then, their heads turning anxiously around as they realized their entrapment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can’t you pick the lock on this door too?” Maya suggested quietly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I left the needle in the room we came from, I don’t know if I can pick this, though…” Semir said, already looking towards the medical table he had the unfortunate courtesy of trying out a while ago, but other feeling growing tiredness, he felt fine so far.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe the key’s over there,” he suggested and snuck his way towards the countertops, it was a risky move, but the only thing he could think of at the moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The third door was right next to the medical table, making him look at it every time he touched a cupboard to look for a key.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He found a lot of bottles of medication and packets of unmarked pills stuffing each cupboard to the brim, a couple of needles, scalpels, tweezers; that along with the table were things he really wouldn’t expect to see in something called the ‘kitchen’.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It really made him wonder what the hell have they been feeding Ahmet and the girls up to this point.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he opened another cupboard, he found a neat line of bottles, he was about to move onto the next cupboard when the writing on the bottles caught his attention and he ended picking one of them up and turning it around in his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>‘M.O Extract 30-35’</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Suspicious, he untwisted the cap and sniffed the content.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And immediately closed it shut again, looking around in worry when the Omega scent released into the air, when the loud voice suddenly fell silent, Semir cursed quietly and quickly placed the bottle back in the cupboard and moved out of the light, retreating towards a wall.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He certainly didn’t anticipate being blinded by the light as the eastern door suddenly flew wide open and a wide-eyed Alpha was staring right at him, standing hunched in the corner like some kind of a startled raccoon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His mind raced with things to do, attack him, run, get ready to defend himself-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the-!” The Alpha, which turned out to be Brauer, was abruptly and efficiently quieted when a fist came from within the darkness right next to him and landed square between his eyes, he slumped to the ground like a ragdoll, knocked out cold.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir blinked and stared at the unconscious man.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I panicked,” came a whisper and Lale stepped in front of the knocked out Alpha, rubbing her sore hand. Maya squeezed her shoulder with a grin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That was amazing, Lale, wow,” Asya whispered in awe.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I had no idea you had it in you,” Maya squeezed her shoulder with a chuckle and then turned to Semir, still staring in disbelief at Brauer’s unmoving form,” Quit staring at him and search him, he might have a key!” She hissed and quickly moved inside the room to search.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He recovered then and remembering the urgency of the situation, rushed over to help them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The room Brauer was in appeared to be one of the areas the Alphas slept in, various articles of clothing scattered all around the place, there were five mattresses on the ground, some leftover food on a cardboard box in the middle, it was apparent this was a temporary setup.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They searched Brauer’s pockets until Senay held up a set of keys.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Does it look like any of them might fit?” Maya asked and Semir quickly snatched the keys from the girl and crossed Brauer’s body out of the room, trying out the keys one by one.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At last, one slid right in and Semir quickly unlocked the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hurry, go, go!” He urged everybody and Ahmet rushed up the stairs leading out of this place first, stumbling over each step, but driven by the need to get the hell out of there, the girls were quick to follow until it was only Semir. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“After everything, we’ve put into this, is he serious?” He heard a voice coming from the left side of the room and quickly pulled the keys from inside of the door and shoved them in from the other just as the door on the western side of the room creaked open and Dietmar’s voice carried on through.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We don’t have a choice, the cover’s blown, they got Mathias and- HEY! What the </span>
  <b>fuck</b>
  <span>?!” The Alpha screamed when he saw Brauer laying on the ground and Semir in the process of shutting the door to the exit behind him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>All of the Alphas ran for the door, but Semir slammed it shut before they could reach the handle and locked it, leaving the keys inside before he bolted up the stairs as they began to bang on the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Little shit locked it!” One shouted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Quickly, get your key--- You’re dead when I get my hands on you, you hear me you little fuck?!” Semir heard the screams echo through the staircase even as he neared the top where the others already waited for him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The bright light of a sunny day made him squint after being in a poorly lit basement for the past day or so, he heard Maya take a deep breath beside him as his sight adjusted to the brightness.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maya had a pleased smile on his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I never knew I could enjoy the sight of a construction site as much as I do now,” she sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir looked around, sure enough, they were on some kind of a building site.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Only worrying thing was the lack of anything else, forest behind them, empty land ahead of them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He recognized this place then.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After all, he’s been there two years ago with Andre in a very similar situation to this. The debris of what used to be the newly constructed floors of a skyscraper left a vivid memory of the fight for survival they went through back then, together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This was Freiter’s oasis of gold, his big project that nearly got Semir’s cousin killed and himself shot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And here he was again, two years later, in a very similar position.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wouldn’t have even thought of looking in this place…” he muttered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The banging coming from the basement of the structure suddenly stopped and the Omegas exchanged a startled look before all bolting for the forest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The girls disappeared immediately, but Semir saw Ahmet was struggling, malnourished and drained of strength he just couldn’t keep up, so Semir supported him and helped him into the forest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Thank you, Semir</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Ahmet wheezed as Semir wrapped his arm around the man’s waist, pulling him along.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re all making it out of this alive,” he insisted and deep inside prayed Andre and Tom would find them soon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>-----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re all set and waiting,” came Bonrath’s voice through the radio.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom grabbed the receiver.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ll be there in a minute,”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The sign for the A4 hung above right ahead, they were nearing their position. Tom prayed that Semir and the others were alright, their intervention at the club might have had some consequences, but Lucas seemed confident enough the kidnappers would rather bail again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre didn’t seem to trust the guy at all, ever since they began setting up their plan, he’s been awfully quiet, far too quiet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even now as they drove to their target, Andre said nothing and continuously glanced to his left, so often they nearly drove into a car in front of them if Tom wouldn’t alert him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s wrong with you?” Tom demanded after a while,”If I knew you’d be so distracted, I would have chosen to drive.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre set his eyes on the road ahead once more, his frown only deepening.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I felt Semir twice already,” he stated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom expected it to happen eventually since they should be nearing them already, but it still got his heart racing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is he okay? And what do you mean twice? You can’t feel him again?” He wondered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We got close just on the last roundabout, then I lost him again,” Andre slowly but surely began to slow the car down and indicated to turn it off the direction of the highway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If Semir’s not down there, then they might be separated like we originally thought,” Tom suggested and turned his head around as they drove the opposite way of where the highway was,”We don’t know where he could be, this is an 8 kilometer radius, unless you have an idea that you haven’t bothered to share yet?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The shift in Andre’s expression once they neared the roundabout was apparent as he reconnected with his mate again, the tension in his shoulders loosening.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ve been to Freiter’s construction site with Semir before, it got blown up back then, but the basement where Freiter hid his money remained intact.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s a real stretch, Andre, there’s no guarantee that he’s there and we don’t have the time to turn around if you’re wrong,” Tom scowled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think I’m wrong,” Andre said, determined.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>------</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They hardly made it two steps into the forest when Semir heard shouting behind them and looked back to see the enraged Alphas heading their way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Damn it, I hoped the door would hold them off longer,” the Omega hissed and dragged Ahmet along faster despite his burning lungs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hardly pulled the other Omega across the clearing and already felt fatigue taking over his body.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re shaking,” Ahmet said with worry, looking down on Semir’s arm around his middle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir readjusted his hold, willing his mind to keep going faster as the two of them found cover within the thick forest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine,” he reassured, but his attention was on their surroundings, searching for an available cover for Ahmet, there was no way they stood any chance like this. Maya and the other girls were long out of sight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hearing the distant stomping of feet approaching, Semir’s heart was racing. He dragged Ahmet to the nearest shrubbery and the injured Omega climbed underneath with a pained grunt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Semir was ready to do the same, he saw it was too late, the men already entered the forest and rapidly grew nearer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir shot Ahmet a look and the injured Omega shook his head dejectedly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stay here, they’ll see you if you run,” he begged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir knelt down just as the Alpha stopped and looked around, searching for them. The shrubbery he chose didn’t prove to be the most ideal cover when he could see the glaring holes all around the greenery, so it wouldn’t be long until they were both spotted and he could only guess what their fate would be then.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even if they were far enough, there was no way Ahmet could run and the thought of leaving the Omega behind didn’t even occur to Semir after what the guy’s been through.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Making the decision, Semir clasped Ahmet’s shoulder firmly to get his attention, the Omega turned to him with a worried look.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t move until they’re out of sight and then go in the opposite direction, road isn’t that far from here, the girls probably found it by now,” Semir checked on the Alphas to make sure they haven’t been spotted yet and began to back away from the shrubbery, Ahmet tried to stop him, grabbing his wrist.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Just stay here with me then, you won’t outrun them barefoot!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” he hissed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir shook his head, eyes still fixed on the Alphas in the distance searching around, moving slowly forward in all directions, he counted four men in total and who could know there weren’t more?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Have some faith, I can handle a chase, I’m a cop after all,” Semir smiled at Ahmet and shrugged him off, backing up further to the sound of crunching leaves beneath his bare feet and Ahmet’s quiet pleas to come back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The moment one of the Alpha’s heads snapped in his direction and they made an eye contact, Semir knew there was no turning back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Twisting around on the balls of his feet, he was running through the uneven terrain before he fully stood up, the crunching of branches breaking underneath him drowning the shouts of his pursuers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adrenaline rushed through his veins, the will to survive numbed the pain of stepping on rough ground, already bruising his feet, he just wanted to get away as far as possible.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Low-hanging branches hit him in the face, making shallow cuts, but he felt nothing but the wetness of the blood on his cheek and the taste of blood filling his mouth as his lungs burned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He couldn’t hear how far behind him they were, or if they all followed him, he just knew he had to keep going, if they caught him now, he’d be surely dead and that was not a possibility he wanted to accept.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not when there was a new life within him he needed to protect. He wanted to tell Andre about it, wanted to see his reaction. They’ve given up on hopes of having their own children when nothing happened after the first two heats and now they finally had their chance of having a complete family that was their own. Andre would be undoubtedly as excited about it as he was. The drive to see his mate again was the only thing keeping his legs from buckling underneath him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir saw a road emerging from the trees ahead and ran towards it, his strength was already draining rapidly, but as long as he was on a frequented road, surely the Alphas wouldn’t dare to grab him there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could already hear the sound of cars moving by, he knew he was close, so damn close.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anger and desperation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The sudden onslaught of emotions took him by surprise and he tripped, falling to the ground with a startled cry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Surprise, anxiety.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emotions filled his mind, leaving him dazed, the Omega within him whining, clawing at the strings the emotions connected to, desperate to feel his mate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He felt him again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Andre…” Semir whispered, pushing himself up, eyes staring at nothing while his head flooded with his mate’s desperation to reach him, completely overtaking his awareness.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t until a heavy force slammed him back against the forest ground and a stab of sharpness in his arm snapped Semir back to present.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He screamed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You thought you were smart, huh?” He recognized the huffing Alpha pressing his knee painfully into his back, Dietmar pulled the needle out again and turned it around in his hand, looking at the bloody tip while Semir wheezed beneath him,”This should be enough for you to never try this stunt again.” The Alpha growled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Horrified at what the man injected him with this time, Semir struggled against his hold with the remaining strength he had, but Dietmar hardly moved above him and it was quickly apparent to Semir he stood no chance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He kept struggling though, even as his limbs grew heavier and his mind dimmed the thoughts racing through it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Something was happening.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hardly felt the knee pressing against his back, everything just became numb.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even as the weight was suddenly lifted off of him and Semir could hear a very distant cry of surprise from Dietmar, as if he was underwater.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He slowly pushed himself up and stared at his hands, blinking slowly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was no texture underneath his fingers, he felt like he was pressing his hands into clay, very shapeless, very cold.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly there was someone right in front of him and he realized he was being shaken.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The blurry figure emerged to be Maya kneeling in front of him, her worried eyes sharpening the louder her voice became.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Snap out of it, we have to run!” She yelled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir blinked slowly again, but some sense of awareness returned to his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah...yeah,” he nodded and pushed against her hold, moving to stand up, but finding it unexpectedly too difficult to do so. His legs wouldn’t move at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“God, what did he inject you with?” Maya whined in frustration somewhere behind him, he turned his head with a delay and saw Dietmar laying on the ground beside him, unconscious, a piece of a thick branch lying by his head that Maya seemingly used to knock him out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly she was in front of Semir again, grasping his shoulders and forcing him to look at her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t pick you up on my own, you have to help me, the road is right there, you can do this,” she urged him on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Road, right.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He nodded slowly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” he repeated again, silently horrified to be unable to say anything else. His mind was a complete mess of blurry words with each passing moment, like a drunken man seconds from passing out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He felt so lightheaded, but his limbs felt like they weighed a ton and the mere movement of getting on his knees felt like a herculean task.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>By some miracle, he managed to pull himself up into a standing position and remaining that way only thanks to Maya’s supporting frame by his side.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She continued to speak to him, but he couldn’t focus on the words.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Whatever Dietmar drugged him with was spreading quickly, they stumbled towards the guardrails of the road, Semir felt the metal structure underneath his hand, staring dazedly at the curved metal, unsure what to do.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maya kept talking to him, loudly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had no idea what she was saying, he was too tired to think about it. Her hands pressed into his back as she urged him forward and he tumbled over the guardrails like a ragdoll, sitting with his legs bent awkwardly underneath him on the other side.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maya quickly knelt next to him and tried to drag him back up, but Semir couldn’t move anymore. His body was so heavy, he never knew it was this difficult to control his limbs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maya was speaking to him again and Semir saw a blur of something large and quick-moving behind her coming to an abrupt halt and suddenly there were more faces in front of him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He blinked again, trying to focus.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The newcomer was grabbing his face and forcing him to look at them, saying something, but by this point, Semir barely managed to focus on his breathing let alone anything else.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The musky scent filling his nostrils helped him recognize the man pulling him into his arms and holding him like he was the most precious thing in the world.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Andre, it’s Andre</span>
  </em>
  <span>, the Omega within him yelped with excitement, and the urge to reach for his mate and return the embrace with the overwhelming joy he felt, was strong. But when Semir made the attempt to do just that, nothing happened, his body moved effortlessly as Andre held him close, the Alpha’s stress quickly replacing the initial relief.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir wanted to say something, wanted to hold him too, but all he could manage was stare blankly in whatever direction his head lolled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He felt helpless.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre’s scent quickly went from stress to fury and Semir desperately wished to be able to speak, to be able to move, but his body simply wouldn’t listen and when his body was suddenly separated from the warm embrace of his mate into the arms of somebody else that Semir somewhat recognized too, he felt panic.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The musky grew so much stronger with the Alpha becoming feral within seconds from separating from him and Semir could hear the distant sound of shouting and fighting as his mate lost control.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre never lost control, not when Semir was around to stop it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But he couldn’t stop it now, he most likely caused it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Omega within him continued to whine, trying to reach out to his Alpha even as men surrounded him and hooked him up on some kind of a machine that beeped next to his ear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a split second, Semir could have sworn he heard his Alpha whine back before everything went silent and Semir was shifted on the ground enough to see the horrifying sight of Andre now unconscious across the road with men standing over him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The wail that broke through the silence sealing his lips up to this point, was stronger than the drugs in his system.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The beeping became louder and quicker and someone forced his head to turn away from Andre’s unmoving form to a worried face hovering above him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“-mir, he’s okay, calm down, it’s okay….” the figure reassured him, stroking his hair. He lost his battle with consciousness then and slowly his eyelids closed shut, the voice reassuring him calling out his name until it went silent along with the rest of Semir’s thoughts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>-----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The steadily beeping machine was the only sound he’s heard for the past two hours that he’s been sitting at Semir’s bedside.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A doctor came in once since he was allowed to see his partner, but that was the extent of it. They reassured him that Semir would wake up soon, but Tom honestly feared that moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s not that he wasn’t happy that his partner was alive and would fully recover after being overdosed with such a potent pain medication, he squeezed the unmoving hand and placed it gently on the unconscious Omega’s middle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The doctors just weren’t as confident about the baby.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom ran a hand through his hair tiredly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His thoughts kept coming back to the moment they found the Omegas waving them down by the forest road, Tom squeezed the bridge of his nose painfully.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They didn’t see Semir’s body right away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t until Andre forced the car into an abrupt halt and left it rolling down the road before Tom put the handbrake on himself, that he’d seen the slumped form against the guardrails and his heart stopped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He rushed out of the car right away then, clutching his phone in his shaking hands and dialing a number for an ambulance and reinforcements, struggling to relay the information over Andre’s panicked shouts for his mate as he clutched onto his limp form like a lifeline.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They asked Tom questions about the origin of Semir’s injuries, but it was nearly impossible to get close enough to the Omega with how distressed Andre was. Each time Tom tried to reach out for Semir’s face to turn him around and see his eyes for a sign of overdose, Andre grew more and more irritated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>By the time their colleagues arrived, Tom could smell the superior Alpha lost control altogether, the lack of response from Semir, whose eyes remained unseeing this whole time, drove him over the edge and when Herzberger tried to reach out for Andre’s shoulder to comfort him, Tom was too late to shout a warning.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The older officer had no time to react before Andre lashed out and panic broke out with everybody jumping on the attacking man to stop him from tearing his colleague to shreds.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It took four people to pull him off of the bleeding officer before he found another target as they brought in one of the kidnappers, Tom couldn’t do anything to stop him, having his hands full with Semir while paramedics tried to stabilize him and he was only left to stare in disbelief as Andre assaulted the Alpha with unhinged fury, the Alpha screamed when one of his bones audibly cracked when Andre tried to rip his arm off, letting out guttural growls when more officers jumped on him to restrain him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom didn’t recognize him at all, he stared at his friend completely speechless until he heard whines coming from below him, he looked down to see Semir’s face turned towards where Andre was currently in the process of attempted murder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It seemed to do something with the superior Alpha as he came to a very sudden halt and turned around, barely making one step towards where Tom was holding Semir before he was forced to the ground by six officers practically jumping on his back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sedate him now, hurry!” One of them shouted and the paramedic quickly stumbled to his feet and rushed over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre’s rampage came to an end then and the Alpha stopped struggling within seconds of being injected with sedatives.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom let out a sigh of relief then, if they hadn’t stopped him then, he would have surely killed the other Alpha and most likely try to do the same to their colleagues-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The ear-piercing wail that came from the up to this point mute Omega shook Tom to his core. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d never forget that sound.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even now as he sat in the hospital at his partner’s bedside, he could still hear it ringing in his ears.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He never wanted to hear his partner being so upset, but it just couldn’t be helped at the time. It was a blessing he fell unconscious shortly after and was spared the further pain of seeing their colleagues handcuffing Andre and dragging his body towards a car.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Herzberger came out of the exchange shaken and bruised, the other Alpha wasn’t as lucky.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>From what information Tom gathered, he was hospitalized with severe wounds to his head, arms, and torso as he tried to defend himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was unlikely Andre would face any charges for the assault, feral Alphas faced more leniency in the court when the cause was in regards to their mate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The machine beeped quicker for a brief moment and Tom saw his partner’s eyelids flutter before slowly slitting open and blinking at the hospital ceiling.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom waited for Semir’s eyes to wander in his direction before he spoke up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey there partner, how are you feeling?” He asked softly, squeezing his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir stared at him for a second and then ran his free hand down his face, letting out a shaky sigh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened?” The Omega croaked, wincing as he tried to gather his scattered thoughts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you remember?” Tom asked, finally letting go of his hand when Semir moved to sit up, so he stood up to help him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I helped Ahmet hide, then one of them caught up to me….” He pinched the bridge of his nose, before realization struck him,” Did you find the others? What about Ahmet, he was hurt, did you-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom squeezed his partner’s shoulder gently.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They’re all okay, Ahmet was taken to the hospital along with you,”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The brief relief that appeared on Semir’s face was quickly diminished when he realized someone was missing from his bedside.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He looked around frantically.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where’s Andre?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before his panic could escalate any further, Tom nodded to the opposite corner of the hospital room where was another occupied bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir quickly followed his gaze and saw his mate’s unconscious form facing away from him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s fine, the sedatives are going to wear off in a bit, he went feral when we found you,” Tom explained, looking at his unconscious colleague sadly,” doctors think it might have been because of your-” he cleared his throat feeling suddenly awkward,”-pregnancy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir shot him a look of surprise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You knew about it? How?” he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Andre followed one of the suspects to a club, they mentioned wanting to get rid of…” Tom cut himself short when he saw the pained expression cross his partner’s face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t want to bring it up so soon after his partner only just woke up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Semir didn’t seem to want to let it go.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The baby, right? That’s what you were going to say,” he finished quietly for him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tom only nodded silently.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did they?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The question caught Tom by surprise, he expected Semir to be in far more denial over it, if not rejecting the thought completely.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Doctor said it’s too early to tell,” Tom stared at the ground grimly,” He said you’ll know in a month or so, if the baby continues to grow, or-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay,” Semir cut him off this time and Tom’s mouth snapped shut.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>To spare himself more awkwardness of sitting there, being unable to find words of comfort for his partner, Tom finally moved to stand up while Semir’s gaze remained fixed on his blanket, as if it was the most interesting thing he’s ever seen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m going to stop by the cafeteria, do you want me to bring you something?” Tom offered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir shook his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, thanks.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right...I’ll be back in a bit,” Tom squeezed his shoulder reassuringly and with one last quick glance in Andre’s direction, left the room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As soon as the door shut behind Tom, Semir threw the blanket off and pulled the IV from his arm along with all the other wires restraining him, the machine next to him buzzed loudly, but he ignored it, pushing himself off the bed and steadying himself on his wobbly feet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once he found his balance, he dragged himself to Andre’s bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They left his mate as he was and other than a couple of colorful bruises on his face, he seemed to be okay, Semir reached out to touch his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir’s thumb moved gently over the wrinkled forehead and a small fond smile appeared on his lips. Andre looked annoyed even when knocked out cold.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With some effort, Semir managed to climb on the bed and wiggle into the small space Andre’s long legs and arms left there, before pressing himself against his mate’s chest, running his hand through his short locks and pressing a tender kiss to his lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre always wrapped his arms around him when Semir shifted close like this, it felt odd not having that embrace now when he needed it so bad. He reached out for his mate’s limp hand and guided it to his middle, holding it in place with both of his hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No matter what happens, we made it,” he whispered, feeling tightness in his throat as sorrow slowly but surely crept upon him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He pressed his face in the crook of Andre’s neck then and closed his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Moments later he felt a movement around him and soon the warmth was taken away from him as Andre roused awake and looked around confused.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Semir opened his eyes just as Andre looked at him and his confused expression melted into one of relief.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Semir, thank god…” he exhaled and pulled the smaller man into a tight embrace, Semir returning the hug with as much desperation. He felt the Alpha’s nose press in the crook of his neck and so he tilted his head by instinct to give his mate room to scent him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre inhaled deeply and Semir felt the tension in his shoulders loosen, both feeling relief at being reunited at last.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When their eyes locked again, it was Semir who moved in for the kiss and Andre gladly met him halfway through, sealing their lips together in a demanding lock, pouring all the need and loneliness of those past three days they spent apart, not knowing if they’d ever see each other again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre moved his hand to the back of Semir’s neck, supporting him as he lowered him onto the pillow only to deepen the kiss, his free hand roaming underneath the thin fabric of the hospital shirt that Semir was wearing until the Omega’s hands stopped it abruptly and Andre slowly pulled away from the reddened lips, looking down at Semir’s hands firmly holding his where it stopped on his belly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he met his mate’s eyes again, they were full of sadness.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andre almost immediately sat up, alarmed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did something happen? Did they hurt the baby? Semir, I swear to god if they did something to you, I’m going to genuinely kill every single one of them,” Andre growled, already moving to get up, only to be promptly dragged back down to Semir’s side and staring at him with a furious look.”What?!” He snapped when Semir just looked at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t, just don’t,” the Omega shook his head with a frown,” I don’t know if the baby is okay or not, but I need you here and not there, so don’t start with that, not now, Andre.” He muttered against the crook of Andre’s neck, hiding his sorrow from prying eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Alpha fell silent and after a moment of nothing, Semir felt his mate’s arms wrap around him once more and an immense relief overtook him as Andre listened to him for once.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He felt a lump in his throat when his mate rubbed his back in comfort and pressed a kiss to the top of his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m here, Semir,”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was all it took for Semir’s composure to finally crumble into pieces and the Omega’s quiet sobs filled the room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Tom peeked his head in moments later and found the two locked in a tight embrace on a hospital bed far too small to fit two people, he quickly retreated again and closed the door quietly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He overheard a sob then and froze on the spot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he said earlier that the wail would be forever etched into his mind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This made his heart hurt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He remained on the other side of the door for a long time, wishing he could have done more.</span>
</p>
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